flatboat

[ flat-boht ]

noun

1. a large, flat-bottomed boat for use in shallow water, especially on rivers.

flatboat

/ ˈflætˌbəʊt /

noun

1. any boat with a flat bottom, usually for transporting goods on a canal or river

Word History and Origins

Origin of flatboat¹

First recorded in 1650–60; flat ¹ + boat

Example Sentences

Having your flatboat regularly get stuck would be the equivalent today of facing massive traffic jams, or having your car constantly stall out.

From Salon

Times best sellers: Rinker Buck shares his adventures on a wooden flatboat in “Life On The Mississippi,” a nonfiction best seller.

From New York Times

An adventure historian builds a 19th-century flatboat and sails it down the Mississippi River.

From Washington Post

In one day, a crew of 16 high-school students pulls up enough clumps of grass from a healthy area to fill two flatboats, then plants the grass along a shoreline or canal mouth.

From Seattle Times

The jovial figures in Bingham’s 1846 “The Jolly Flatboatmen” are in high spirits, yet they are dancing precariously on the roof of a Missouri flatboat, under which the cargo space looks cramped, dark and ominous.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• raft