stake boat

noun

1. an anchored boat to which barges or other boats are temporarily moored.
2. an anchored boat used as a turning point in races.

Word History and Origins

Origin of stake boat¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

In each stake boat, an official sat ready to hold the stern of the shell assigned to that lane until the starting pistol was fired.

From Literature

As the Washington boys backed their shell into position, the official in the stake boat for lane three reached out a hand and laid hold of their stern.

From Literature

One race was end on end, and the other round a stake boat.

From Project Gutenberg

Here, each one holding an umbrella in one hand and a palm-leaf fan in the other, they paddled out to the stake boat.

From Project Gutenberg

Up the river the wind, cold after rain, was blowing hard when the two shells jumped away from the stake boat.

From Time Magazine Archive