u-boat

IPA/ˈjuː bəʊt/
IPA/ˈjuː bəʊt/

u-boat — noun

1. a submarine that belonged to the German navy, known especially from the First an

1.nounB2
Definition

a submarine that belonged to the German navy, known especially from the First and Second World Wars

Example

Niran read a sailor's story about escaping from a damaged U-boat.

historical context: escaping from a damaged U-boat

At the museum, Élise climbed through a restored U-boat from the war.

museum context: restored U-boat

Common collocations
  • U-boat attack
  • U-boat captain
  • U-boat crew
  • U-boat base
  • sink a U-boat
Synonyms
  • German submarine

    A plain descriptive phrase; broader in tone and less tied to wartime history writing

  • Unterseeboot

    The original German word, seen mainly in specialist or historical contexts

Usage Note

This word is mainly used in history books, museum displays, documentaries, and war films. For submarines from other countries or for modern naval boats, speakers usually say submarine instead.

Common Mistakes

The museum displayed a U boat from World War II.
The museum displayed a U-boat from World War II.
The standard English spelling uses a hyphen.
The navy sent a U-boat to patrol the Pacific today.
The navy sent a submarine to patrol the Pacific today.
U-boat usually refers to German submarines from the two world wars, not modern boats.

Word family

  • u-boats
    noun (plural)B2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

U-boat is a historical label, not the general word for every vessel that travels underwater. Use submarine for modern military boats or for underwater naval vessels from countries other than Germany. In war history, museum captions, and films about the Atlantic campaign, U-boat points specifically to German submarines from the two world wars. Submersible is different again: it usually means a smaller research or tourist craft rather than a naval weapon.

U-boat ↗submarine ↗submersible ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • ~ captain
  • ~ crew
  • ~ base
  • ~ attack
  • ~ model

Phrases

  • to sink a ~
  • to spot a ~
  • to board a ~ at a museum

Prepositions

  • aboard a ~
  • on a ~

Etymology

GermanEnglish

Borrowed from German U-Boot, short for Unterseeboot, which literally means 'undersea boat'. The term became common in English when people wrote about German naval warfare in the two world wars.

First known use

1914

1914, in the meaning defined above