tugboat

[tuhg-boht] /ˈtʌgˌboʊt/
noun
1.
a small, powerful boat for towing or pushing ships, barges, etc.
Also called towboat, tug.
Origin
1820-30, Americanism; tug + boat
Examples from the web for tugboat
  • The proof is that it has a suitcase as big as a tugboat along for the trip.
  • Tell the students to make another tugboat by stacking blocks on top of the first tugboat.
  • The gravel barges would be brought in and out by tugboat.
  • Then again, there do not seem to be too many other recreational mariners who live on a tugboat.
  • They had not returned at midnight last night, and a search on a tugboat failed to discover them.
Word Origin and History for tugboat
n.

1832, from tug (n.) + boat (n.).

Encyclopedia Article for tugboat

small, powerful watercraft designed to perform a variety of functions, especially to tow or push barges and large ships. In 1736 Jonathan Hulls of Gloucestershire, Eng., patented a boat to be powered by a Newcomen steam engine to move large vessels in and out of harbours. The first tugboat actually built was the Charlotte Dundas, powered by a Watt engine and paddle wheel and used on the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland. Screw propulsion for tugboats was introduced in the United States about 1850, the diesel engine about 50 years later. Tugs are still indispensable in berthing large ships. Oceangoing tugs are used for salvage missions

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