bateau
Americannoun
plural
bateaux-
Nautical. Also
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Chiefly Canadian and Southern U.S.. a small, flat-bottomed rowboat used on rivers.
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a half-decked, sloop-rigged boat used for fishing on Chesapeake Bay; skipjack.
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(in some regions) a scow.
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a pontoon of a floating bridge.
noun
Etymology
Origin of bateau
An Americanism first recorded in 1705–15; from French; Old French batel, equivalent to bat (from Old English bāt boat ) + -el diminutive suffix, from Latin -ellus; -elle
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Visitors can also explore several reconstructed buildings from that era, including a homestead house, and see a bateau riverboat.
From New York Times • Feb. 5, 2023
“My mom was like, ‘You were crawling around in a bateau in 1988,’ ” Smith says.
From Washington Post • Mar. 10, 2022
Forte émotion devant le drame des nombreux morts dû au chavirage d’un bateau de migrants dans la Manche.
From The Guardian • Nov. 24, 2021
In the picture, Portman is wearing what looks like a Dior-inspired, cherry-red dress with bateau neckline and sizable buttons, complemented by a triple strand of pearls.
From Time • Dec. 16, 2015
The river was dark and a bateau mouche went by, all bright with lights, going fast and quiet up and out of sight under the bridge.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.