tugboat

noun

tug·​boat ˈtəg-ˌbōt How to pronounce tugboat (audio)
: a strongly built powerful boat used for towing and pushing

called also towboat

Examples of tugboat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Named after a nearby tugboat that accidentally sank more than 30 years ago, the beach has become one of the island’s most popular diving and snorkeling sites. Curaçao Tourist Board, AFAR Media, 26 Feb. 2025 Lind, then in his late 70s, invited an eccentric group of folks living on a neighboring vintage tugboat to come along and become his tenants. Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2025 Swell, run by Maple Leaf Adventures out of Victoria, British Columbia, was built in 1912 as a wooden-hulled tugboat. Kevin West, Travel + Leisure, 4 Jan. 2025 The dock will be used by a small tugboat and a barge with equipment to vacuum sand and pump it through a pipe in a watery slurry onto the shoreline from Pine Avenue to just north of Cannon Road. Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tugboat

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tugboat was in 1830

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tugboat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tugboat. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

tugboat

noun
tug·​boat ˈtəg-ˌbōt How to pronounce tugboat (audio)
: a strongly built powerful boat used for towing and pushing ships

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