boats
boats — noun
- boatssingular
- boatsesplural
1. small vehicles that people use for travelling on rivers, lakes, or oceans, usual
small vehicles that people use for travelling on rivers, lakes, or oceans, usually made of wood, metal, or plastic and moved by oars, sails, or an engine.
Soraya and her father keep two fishing boats at the small harbor near the village.
keeps two fishing boats at [location]
Every summer, Niran and his friends rent small boats to explore the lake for a day.
rent small boats to explore
The tour company painted all their wooden boats bright blue and white last spring.
The Watanabe family uses their small boat to check the fishing nets every morning before sunrise.
文法句型
boats + verb (plural)
number + boats
用法筆記
Boats is the plural form of boat. When referring to a single vehicle, use boat.
常見錯誤
2. a large ship that carries people, goods, or military equipment across the sea —
a large ship that carries people, goods, or military equipment across the sea — used in everyday language rather than official or technical language.
Huge cargo boats arrive at the port every morning, bringing goods from Asia and South America.
cargo boats bring goods from [region]
Emma watched the cruise boats sail past her beach house late in the evening.
The navy sent three patrol boats to search for the missing ship near the coast.
Passenger boats carry tourists between the islands from April through late October each year.
文法句型
boats + verb (plural)
用法筆記
In informal English, boats is often used for large ships too, especially passenger or cargo ships. In official or technical writing, prefer ship or vessel.
常見錯誤
3. a long narrow dish shaped like a boat, used for serving sauce, gravy, or salad d
a long narrow dish shaped like a boat, used for serving sauce, gravy, or salad dressing at the dinner table.
Lara placed the gravy boat next to the roasted chicken before calling everyone to dinner.
gravy boat — the most common type of sauce boat
Darius searched the cupboard for a clean sauce boat to serve the salad dressing in.
The antique shop had a silver sauce boat with elegant handles on both sides.
Aoi's grandmother handed her the porcelain sauce boat and asked her to fill it with gravy.
- gravy boat
the most common term for this dish, specifically for gravy
- sauceboat
one-word variant, interchangeable with sauce boat
文法句型
a/the boat (of/for [liquid])
用法筆記
Boat in this sense is almost always used with a modifier, such as gravy boat or sauce boat. The item is found in formal dinner settings.
boats — verb
- boatspresent simple I / you / we / they
- boatses3rd person singular
- boatsing-ing form
- boatsedpast simple
1. to lift or pull something, especially a fish that has been caught, into a boat f
to lift or pull something, especially a fish that has been caught, into a boat from the water.
After a long struggle, Aoi finally boated the huge salmon and held it up proudly.
boat + [fish] — to pull a caught fish into the boat
The experienced fisherman boats his net quickly whenever he spots a large catch beneath the surface.
Tamar leaned over the side and carefully boated the dripping rope before tying it to the cleat.
With one smooth motion, the guide boated the heavy crate before waves could tip it over.
文法句型
boat + noun phrase
用法筆記
This sense is almost entirely restricted to fishing contexts. The object is typically the fish that was caught or the gear used to catch it. Rare in everyday conversation.
2. to travel or spend time on a boat for pleasure, as a hobby, or as a regular way
to travel or spend time on a boat for pleasure, as a hobby, or as a regular way of getting somewhere.
Every morning, Maja boats across the river to reach the school on the other side.
boat across [body of water] — travel by boat regularly
The club boats along the coast every Saturday, stopping at different islands for lunch.
Ezra often boats down the canal to visit his grandmother who lives near the old bridge.
Whenever the road is flooded, Iker boats across the inlet to reach his workshop on time.
文法句型
boat + adverb/prepositional phrase
用法筆記
Go boating is much more common in everyday English than the single verb boats. This verb form appears mostly in written descriptions of regular habits or scheduled routes.