boats 1 of 2

noun

plural of boat
1
as in vessels
a small buoyant structure for travel on water paddling the little boat across the lake is great exercise, but tiring

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in ships
a large craft for travel by water you'll have to take a passenger boat to get to the island

Synonyms & Similar Words

boats

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of boat
as in sails
to travel on water in a vessel boated to the picnic site on an island in the bay

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of boats
Noun
The three were part of a group of 30 friends, including Wells, who rode to Horn Island on three boats on the Fourth of July. — ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026 That year, hundreds of thousands crossed the Mediterranean on flimsy rubber boats in hopes of finding a safer future in Europe. — Kirsten Grieshaber, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026 There’s no bridge between the property and Biscayne Bay, giving boats direct access to open water. — Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 6 Oct. 2026 Two Dominican Republic Navy patrol boats arrived to help offload the people from the sinking vessel, the Coast Guard said. — David Goodhue october 6, Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2026 Over the summer, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was reportedly in talks to build drone boats on the site. — Samantha Subin, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026 The annual pumpkin regatta will take place Sunday, with contestants carving giant pumpkins into boats and paddling them across the park’s small lake. — Camryn Dadey, Sacbee.com, 29 Sep. 2026 Multiple boats were washed ashore in Massachusetts, and the storm also raised concerns about coastal erosion as waves crashed into beaches and seawalls. — CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026 Many of these migrants navigate the passage on makeshift boats that can capsize in treacherous waters. — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Verb
Down at the lake, boats just off the shore slowed to listen while swimmers took in the music from floaties. — Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 18 July 2026 Shrimp boats bob in the harbor, American flags flutter from pastel porches and old oak trees draped in Spanish moss offer cool shade. — Noreen Kompanik, Boston Herald, 19 Oct. 2025 Kennebunkport, Maine Lobster boats bob in the waves and beachcombers search for shells. — Allison Tibaldi, USA Today, 20 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boats
  1. vessels
  2. ships
  3. sails
  4. yachts
  5. ferries
  6. canoes
  7. crafts
  8. rafts
Noun
  • In 2024, the defense ministry had signed a $780 million contract with Israel shipyards for five vessels, with the first delivery expected around 2031.
    — Allegra Goodwin, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Routine mammograms can show breast arterial calcifications (BACs), which are calcium deposits in the vessels of the breast.
    — Ava Tsapatsaris, ABC News, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of vessels
Noun
  • Built in 2022, The Prima is the first of six ships from the Prima Class, which is the brand’s first new class of ships in nearly ten years.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Three fuels expand options The ships’ tri-fuel engines can switch between heavy fuel oil, methanol and ethanol.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of ships
Verb
  • Seabourn sails the 264-passenger Seabourn Venture and twin Seabourn Pursuit, two lavish all-suite polar-class expedition ships cruising remote itineraries, each with two submarines.
    — Janice Wald Henderson, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Some of my favorites are coming back too, like El Pulpo Magnifico, Duane Flatmo's fire-breathing octopus, and the Monaco, a 40-foot ship with three masts that sails across dust instead of water.
    — Jim Dobson, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of sails
Noun
  • That's particularly true at steakhouse Intrepid and open-air cantina 16o9—both of which are set above the harbor for incredible sunsets and clear views of the gleaming white super yachts.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
  • In a setting designed to make exceptional yachts desirable, explaining why a particular vessel is unsuitable requires commercial discipline.
    — Christoph Lymbersky, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of yachts
Verb
  • The blockage of the strait, which normally ferries 20% of the world's oil, sent global energy prices soaring.
    — Kevin Breuninger,Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Iran has effectively halted trade traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, the maritime trade route that ferries roughly 20% of the world’s petroleum.
    — Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 9 Mar. 2026
Definition of ferries
Noun
  • In coastal sections of New York and New Jersey, the storm triggered such intense flooding that residents were seen paddling through their neighborhoods on kayaks and canoes, past parked cars that had become partially or nearly submerged in water.
    — Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 27 Sep. 2026
  • Where canoes once rested beside fishing nets drying in the sun, housing developments and new infrastructure have appeared.
    — Sebastián López Brach, The Dial, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of canoes
Noun
  • Na studied crafts at university, working with wood, metal, dyes and ceramics, because flat, two-dimensional drawing had come to bore him.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 8 Oct. 2026
  • For the occasion, the park will host historical reenactments, tours, dancing, and crafts.
    — Anne Ewbank, Sacbee.com, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of crafts
Noun
  • This type of maritime migration is different from the once-common arrivals of rafts and other homemade vessels that Cubans are known to use to escape their homeland, and the overloaded freighters and sailboats used by people fleeing Haiti.
    — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026
  • The Coast Guard had dropped inflatable rafts in the water nearby, but the teen — who was suffering from hypothermia — was too weak to swim to them.
    — Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 13 Sep. 2026
Definition of rafts

Browse Nearby Words

boatloads
boats
bob
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Cite this Entry

“Boats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boats. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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