boat

American  

[boht] / boʊt /

noun

• boats
  plural

1. a vessel for transport by water, constructed to provide buoyancy by excluding water and shaped to give stability and permit propulsion.

2. a small ship, generally for specialized use.

   a fishing boat.

3. a small vessel carried for use by a large one, as a lifeboat.

   They lowered the boats for evacuation.

4. a ship.

5. a vessel of any size built for navigation on a river or other inland body of water.

6. a serving dish resembling a boat.

   a gravy boat;

   a celery boat.

7. Ecclesiastical. a container for holding incense before it is placed in the censer.

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verb (used without object)

• boats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• boated,
  past participle,  past
• boating
  present participle

1. to go in a boat.

   We boated down the Thames.

verb (used with object)

• boats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• boated,
  past participle,  past
• boating
  present participle

1. to transport in a boat.

   They boated us across the bay.

2. to remove (an oar) from the water and place athwartships.

idioms

1. in the same boat, in the same circumstances; faced with the same problems.

   The new recruits were all in the same boat.

2. miss the boat,

   1. to fail to take advantage of an opportunity.

      He missed the boat when he applied too late to get into college.

   2. to miss the point of; fail to understand.

      I missed the boat on that explanation.

3. rock the boat. rock.

boat British  

/ bəʊt /

noun

1. a small vessel propelled by oars, paddle, sails, or motor for travelling, transporting goods, etc, esp one that can be carried aboard a larger vessel

2. (not in technical use) another word for ship

3. navy a submarine

4. a container for gravy, sauce, etc

5. a small boat-shaped container for incense, used in some Christian churches

6. sharing the same problems

7. See burn 1

8. to lose an opportunity

9. informal to celebrate, esp lavishly and expensively

10. informal to cause a disturbance in the existing situation

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verb

1. (intr) to travel or go in a boat, esp as a form of recreation

2. (tr) to transport or carry in a boat

boat More Idioms  

1. see burn one's bridges (boats); in the same boat; miss the boat; rock the boat.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• boatable
  adjective
• boatless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• boats
  plural

Participles

• boating
  present
• boated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• boat
  simple
• boats
  simple
• have boated
  perfect
• has boated
  perfect
• am boating
  progressive
• are boating
  progressive
• is boating
  progressive
• have been boating
  perfect progressive
• has been boating
  perfect progressive

Past

• boated
  simple
• had boated
  perfect
• was boating
  progressive
• were boating
  progressive
• had been boating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will boat
  simple
• will have boated
  perfect
• will be boating
  progressive
• will have been boating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of boat

First recorded before 900; Middle English boot (noun), Old English bāt; cognate with Old Norse beit

Explanation

A boat is a water craft, a vessel that floats and can be propelled through the water. If you buy a private island, you'll need a boat to get there. A lobster boat travels across ocean bays powered by a small motor, and a sail boat is moved by the wind hitting its sails at a particular angle. A much smaller type of boat is a gravy boat, a boat-shaped serving dish that holds a sauce. Boat is sometimes used as a verb, meaning "to go out in a boat." The Old English root is bat, "ship or vessel," from a Germanic source.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

boat boats boated boating

In her financial disclosure in February 2025, she reported liabilities including a boat loan valued at $100,000 to $250,000 and a mortgage valued at between $1 million and $5 million.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

“Every time we were scouting by boat, we would take our backpacks with us,” Mungiu recalls.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

But the debt for the vacation, the wedding, the furniture in the basement, the boat — all of that costs you twice.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

NCA bosses said each boat "could have been used to transport around 70 people across the Channel"

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

It was just like the boat that Dad used to have, that he took Jonah and me out fishing every weekend in, before it was awarded to Mom in the divorce.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

These humpback whales, they’re right underneath these tiny little boats, and if they wanted to, they could just flick their tail, and you’d be off in the sea.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

The NCA estimated the boats could have been used to move up to 1,700 migrants.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Pontoons and dozens of boats lie stranded on the dry lake bed.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

Musk is turning Tesla’s back on human-driven cars, effectively burning the boats on the shores of a new world full of robots.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

“The airport’s just past the sailing school—you can see the little boats now.”

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

This summer, ProPublica journalists hiked and boated across Rubkona County, the epicenter of South Sudan’s outbreak and home to the country’s largest refugee camp, to interview families that the U.S. cut off from help.

From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2025

“It’s the worst situation I’ve seen on the lake,” said South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace, who has lived and boated in the area for decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2025

"Nowadays it has to be boated off. It's just not realistic at all. But it captures everyone's imagination."

From BBC ● May 5, 2025

She took ballet; played basketball with her mother, brother and cousins; and boated and swam in the sea on weekends.

From New York Times ● Mar. 15, 2022

The sky scowled down upon us, threatening rain as we boated over to Southwark and joined the throng of bearbaiters and playgoers.

From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood

Studland Bay Marine Partnership is made up of conservation charities, boating organisations, academics, statutory bodies, community groups and businesses, with the aim of restoring Studland's seagrass.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

Residents of the city, which is nestled in the Appalachian foothills with the Tennessee River running through the heart of a lively downtown, enjoy a variety of outdoor activities including hiking, biking and boating.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Describing his passion for boating as "all consuming", he has been on the water since he was 10 and lived through the droughts of 1975 and 1976.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

We love vacationing in Lake Tahoe, swimming and boating.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

On our first practice run we couldn't even get out of the harbor without shaming ourselves in front of the entire boating community.

From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos

Related Words

• barge
• canoe
• catamaran
• craft
• dinghy
• gondola
• raft
• sailboat
• schooner
• ship
• yacht