Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A long rowboat, pointed at both ends and designed to move and turn swiftly, formerly used in the pursuit and harpooning of whales.
- noun A boat similar to such a rowboat in size and shape; a whaler.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A long narrow boat, sharp at both ends, and. fitted for steering with an oar as well as with a rudder, used in the pursuit of whales, and, from its handy and seaworthy qualities, also for many other purposes. It is usually from 20 to 30 feet long.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Naut.) A long, narrow boat, sharp at both ends, used by whalemen.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A long narrow
rowing boat , formerly used inwhaling , which is pointed at both ends so that it can move either forwards or backwards equally well. - noun A boat resembling this and carried on a
warship or othership .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a long narrow boat designed for quick turning and use in rough seas
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word whaleboat.
Examples
-
Not from any sailor in whaleboat or launch could he accept, or would he be offered, a bit of biscuit or an invitation to go ashore for a run.
CHAPTER XXI 2010
-
Not from any sailor in whaleboat or launch could he accept, or would he be offered, a bit of biscuit or an invitation to go ashore for a run.
Chapter 21 1917
-
When the whaleboat was alongside, he descended into it first, superiorly, then invited Nau-hau to accompany him.
CHAPTER X 2010
-
When the whaleboat was alongside, he descended into it first, superiorly, then invited Nau-hau to accompany him.
Chapter 10 1917
-
The whaleboat was my own, and as I thought of her, I felt pleased that my employers, who were as mean as Polish Jews, would not get to windward of me as far as she was concerned.
The Strange Adventure Of James Shervinton 1902 Louis Becke 1884
-
At one o'clock, P.m., therefore, Fox and his comrades set off in the whaleboat, which is represented as small in size, and crazy in condition.
Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains 1836
-
At one o'clock, P.M., therefore, Fox and his comrades set off in the whaleboat, which is represented as small in size, and crazy in condition.
Astoria, or, anecdotes of an enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains Washington Irving 1821
-
As before, the captive Fuatino men towed in the whaleboat.
-
The Huahine women, laughing and giggling, were holding on to the sides of the whaleboat which had done the towing.
-
The schooner, moving slowly, jerk by jerk, as the men pulled in the whaleboat, was almost directly beneath.
chained_bear commented on the word whaleboat
"Their vessels, after all, were not cumbersome, run-of-the-mill lifeboats; these were whaleboats, high-performance craft that had been designed for the open ocean. Made of light, half-inch-thick cedar planks, a whaleboat possessed the buoyancy required to ride over rather than through the waves. 'I would not have exchanged my boat, old and crazy as she was,' Chase claimed, 'for even a ship's launch,' the sturdy type of craft in which, three decades earlier, Captain Bligh had sailed more than four thousand miles after the Bounty mutiny."
--Nathaniel Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, 99
May 1, 2008