# boat

Pronunciation: say "BOHT" US /boʊt/, UK /bəʊt/

## Noun

1. A craft used on or in the water for carrying goods, fishing, racing, cruising, or military purposes, propelled by oars, a motor, or wind.
   - Simple: A craft that floats on water and carries people or things, moved by oars, a motor, or sails.
   - _The fishing boat returned to harbor with a full catch._
   - _Several boats raced along the river at dawn._
4. A dish, utensil, or container shaped roughly like a boat, such as a gravy boat.
   - Simple: A dish or container shaped like a small boat, such as one made for holding gravy.
   - _The caterer arranged each boat of sauce beside the carving station._
   - _Two porcelain boats held the cranberry sauce and the gravy._
5. A large, heavy car whose size comes across as excessive or wasteful. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A very big, heavy car that many people think is far too large.
   - _She finally sold the gas-guzzling boat and bought something compact._
   - _Parking that boat downtown is always a nightmare._
6. In Australian political discourse, the refugee boats arriving in the country's waters, and by extension refugees or asylum seekers in general. *(colloquial, Australian)*
   - Simple: In Australia, the boats carrying refugees who arrive by sea, or the refugees themselves.
   - _Every candidate at the forum was asked what they would do about the boats._
   - _When a boat is intercepted at sea, its passengers are taken to offshore processing._
7. In poker, a full house: three cards of one rank together with a pair of another. *(slang)*
   - Simple: In a card game, a hand with three cards of one value and two cards of another.
   - _She slow-played the boat and trapped him on the turn._
   - _Flopping a boat early gave him a commanding chip lead._

## Verb

2. To travel on water in a boat, or to carry people or goods somewhere by boat.
   - Simple: To go somewhere in a boat, or to take people or things somewhere by boat.
   - _Tourists boat through the mangroves to spot wildlife._
   - _She boated across the bay to reach the island._
3. To put a person or object into a boat.
   - Simple: To put a person or thing into a boat.
   - _The sailors quickly boated the rescued swimmer and wrapped her in blankets._
   - _Anglers use a large net to boat heavy fish without losing them._

## Verb

8. To deport a convicted person to a distant penal colony, carrying them there by ship. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To send a convict overseas to a prison colony by ship.

## Other meanings

- (noun) In chemistry, one of the two main shapes of a cyclohexane ring, roughly resembling a boat, the other being the chair.
- (noun) In Conway's Game of Life, a still life made of five living cells surrounding a single dead cell, roughly boat-shaped.

## Origin

From Middle English "bot," from Old English "bāt" (boat), going back through Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root *bʰeyd- meaning "to break, split." It is related to Old Norse "beit," and words like Dutch "boot," German "Boot," and French "bateau" are ultimately borrowed from the Old English word.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/boat (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).