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
  • By defining requirements upfront and approving change orders quickly, the model improves schedule certainty and ensures vessels are mission-ready when they are delivered.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Shortly after, Iran attacked commercial vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz, unraveling the precarious cease-fire the country had struck with the United States three months earlier.
    — Narges Bajoghli, Foreign Affairs, 9 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
  • Travis Meier is a portage runner who carries canoes to raise awareness for Minnesota's public lands.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 6 Oct. 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 11 Oct. 2026.

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