<p><strong>noun</strong></p><ul><li>a vessel for transport by water, constructed to provide buoyancy by excluding water and shaped to give stability and permit propulsion.</li><li>a small ship, generally for specialized use: a fishing boat.</li><li>a small vessel carried for use by a large one, as a lifeboat: They lowered the boats for evacuation.</li><li>a ship.</li><li>a vessel of any size built for navigation on a river or other inland body of water.</li><li>a serving dish resembling a boat: a gravy boat; a celery boat.</li><li>Ecclesiastical: a container for holding incense before it is placed in the censer.</li></ul><p><strong>verb</strong></p><ul><li>(used without object) to go in a boat: We boated down the Thames.</li><li>(used with object) to transport in a boat: They boated us across the bay.</li><li>to remove (an oar) from the water and place athwartships.</li></ul>