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Glite Dictionary
🚣 A small rowboat ⛵ A two-mast boat
yawl

yawl

1 9.9
A small sailing boat with two masts, the smaller one toward the back
  • noun
  • /jɔl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : yola
  • After dinner, they set off in the yawl to explore the nearby islands before sunset.
  • foot yawl

Examples

  • He takes the Duke's yawl, six oarsmen, and the second mate, and heads off for the beach even before the ships have dropped anchor.

    Academic text (2002)

  • You and Brynn take the other yawl and start after her.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • I had a 37-foot yawl on San Francisco Bay.

    Blog text (34)

  • Aboard the Duke, Captain Rogers is becoming anxious to know what is keeping the yawl.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Her plan was to take one of the scout yawls.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The lone crewman on the yawl was Brynn.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The yawl bobbed a little as her weight unsettled on it, then righted itself.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The sailors prepared the yawl for the long journey ahead by checking the sails and rigging.

  • With its two masts, the yawl glided smoothly across the water, leaving a gentle wake behind.

Synonyms

jolly
vsyawl
  • Archaic
2 9.9

A small boat kept on a ship to carry people or goods

is a sea-going two-masted sailing vessel rather than a carried ship's boat
dandy
vsyawl
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A small sailing boat with two masts and a short rear mast

has identical meaning but is the more common standard term

Surface Forms

yawl singular
yawls plural

Etymology

Yawl comes from old names for light boats, like Dutch jol and French yole, which meant a small, quick craft. Sailors later used the name for a light sailing boat with a small back mast set behind the rudder, so today's yawl is remembered as a two-masted, easy-to-handle sailboat.