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flatboat

 
Dictionary: flat·boat   (flăt'bōt') pronunciation
n.
A boat with a flat bottom and square ends used for transporting freight on inland waterways.


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WordNet: flatboat
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a flatbottom boat for carrying heavy loads (especially on canals)
  Synonyms: barge, hoy, lighter


Wikipedia: Flatboat
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A flatboat is a rectangular boat with a flat bottom and square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways. The flatboat could be any size but, essentially, it is large , sturdy tub with a hull that displaces water and so floats in the water; therefore, the flatboat is not a raft, which floats on the water. A flatboat was almost always a one-way vessel, and was usually dismantled for lumber when it reached its downstream destination. Varieties of flatboat in the early 19th century included the mid-range broadhorn and Kentucky boat, and the longer-range New Orleans boat, which was fully covered.

Depiction, smaller flatboat.

An average of 3,000 flatboats descended the Ohio River each year between 1810 and 1820. Abraham Lincoln twice piloted a flatboat carrying produce to New Orleans, from Indiana in 1828 and from Illinois in 1831.

References

  • Bogan, Dallas (1979). Warren County, Ohio and Beyond. p. 162. 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Flatboat" Read more