flatboat
/ˈflæt.bəʊt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈflæt.boʊt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈflat-ˌbōt/ (ame, mw)
flatboat — noun
- flatboatsingular
- flatboatsplural
1. an open boat built with a level bottom and straight, upright ends, used on river
an open boat built with a level bottom and straight, upright ends, used on rivers and canals to move heavy freight and sometimes people
Miriam's family loads bags of grain onto the flatboat before sunrise.
Kwame pushed the flatboat along the shallow river, weaving around fallen logs.
verb + flatboat + along + waterway for movement
Fatima watched a flatboat loaded with coal drift slowly past the old mill.
Diego and his brother built a wooden flatboat to sell vegetables at riverside markets.
Anika counts the flatboats tied up along the canal, each one heavy with timber.
- barge
larger, often towed by a tugboat rather than poled by hand; still in common use today
- scow
also flat-bottomed and square-ended, but typically used as a work platform for dredging or carrying waste, not long-distance freight
- lighter
a flat-bottomed boat used specifically to transfer cargo between a large ship and a dock in harbours