tugboat

[ tuhg-boht ]

noun

1. a small, powerful boat for towing or pushing ships, barges, etc.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tugboat¹

An Americanism dating back to 1820–30; tug + boat

Example Sentences

They blocked civilians from boarding tugboats by forming a blockade around the walls of the Malecón in the capital.

From Washington Post

Forty-four of the Jones Act fleet’s 57 tankers are sitting along the Gulf Coast or Eastern Seaboard, in addition to tugboats and barges.

From Washington Post

Woronowicz has been working on boats his whole life as a merchant mariner — on tugboats and cruise ships, now as a third mate on a Columbia University ocean research vessel.

From Washington Post

Authorities worked day and night, dredging and using tugboats to dig and pull the ship away from the banks.

From Washington Post

The positions of the Ever Given container ship and the tugboats are based on satellite imagery by Maxar, Airbus Space and Planet, as well as location data from VesselFinder.

From Washington Post

A tugboat improbably sits high on the bank, obscured by tall grass, a broken oil rig hangs over the water nearby.

From The Daily Beast

After airstrikes began, Libyan armed men seized an Italian tugboat in Tripoli used to service the coastal oil platforms.

From The Daily Beast

A half-mile or more distant from them a big, ocean-going tugboat was passing down the bay, without a tow and under full steam.

From Project Gutenberg

I did not give up the venture there, however, but directed the captain of the tugboat to make directly for the island.

From Project Gutenberg

A little abaft her beam a tugboat was blowing one long and two short, indicating her tow.

From Project Gutenberg

It was on the tip of Mayo's tongue to argue the matter with the tugboat man, but he took second thought and shut his mouth.

From Project Gutenberg

So the young man accepted Captain Dodge's invitation and climbed to the tugboat's pilot-house.

From Project Gutenberg