flatboat
noun
flat·boat
| \ ˈflat-ˌbōt
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Definition of flatboat
: a boat with a flat bottom and square ends used for transportation of bulky freight especially in shallow waters
Examples of flatboat in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Then there was Rufus Putnam, the Revolutionary general who actually led the Ohio Company in its difficult journey to Pittsburgh and down the Ohio on flatboats. — Polly Campbell, Cincinnati.com, "In 'The Pioneers,' historian McCullough finds heroes in Ohio history," 1 July 2019 Guiding the clumsy flatboats calls for expert navigation. — Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, "The Lost Art of Floating Logs Down the River," 16 Feb. 2019 Hundreds of thousands of bales of cotton arrived on flatboats—until the railroad took over—from the vast plantations up river to the north. — Gully Wells, WSJ, "A Trip to the Florida of Yore," 12 Dec. 2018 Courtyard Inn, 121-133 N. Front Street, Rising Sun The five buildings that form the shuttered Courtyard Inn represent the earliest links to the Ohio River flatboat industry that put Rising Sun on the map. — Will Higgins, Indianapolis Star, "These 10 classic, historic Indiana buildings are on borrowed time," 2 May 2018 Daniel Jones, 42, was thrown from a 15-foot flatboat and into the river near the Leisure Landing south of Springfield around 4 p.m. Sunday, Wildlife and Fisheries said. — Bob Warren, NOLA.com, "Man's body found after Tickfaw River boat incident," 30 Apr. 2018 Portland was originally this river town community, a maritime river community, all about the river trade, steamboats, flatboats. — Nancy Stearns Theiss, The Courier-Journal, "Portland Museum safeguards glimpses of life on the Ohio River in Louisville," 29 Sep. 2017 Workers on flatboats could barely pass under the railroad bridge at Broadway. — Andrew Wolfson, The Courier-Journal, "There's hope for Houston in the story of Louisville's Great Flood of 1937," 28 Aug. 2017 In this suspenseful novel, May Bedloe, a young seamstress for a theater company that travels the Ohio River on a flatboat, becomes involved in ferrying infants born into bondage from one side of the river to the other. — New York Times, "10 New Books We Recommend This Week," 20 July 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'flatboat.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for flatboat
flatboat
noun
flat·boat
| \ ˈflat-ˌbōt
\
\
Kids Definition of flatboat
: a large boat with a flat bottom and square ends