Dictionary
boat
Pronunciation: (bōt), [key]—
n.
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. Eccles.a container for holding incense before it is placed in the censer.
8. in the same boat, in the same circumstances; faced with the same problems:
The new recruits were all in the same boat.
9. miss the boat, Informal.
a. to fail to take advantage of an opportunity:
He missed the boat when he applied too late to get into college.
b. to miss the point of; fail to understand:
I missed the boat on that explanation.
10. rock the boat. See
rock2 (def. 12).
—
v.i.
to go in a boat:
We boated down the Thames.
—
v.t.
1. to transport in a boat:
They boated us across the bay.
2. to remove (an oar) from the water and place athwartships. Cf.
ship (def. 11).
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
