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Glite Dictionary
PT boat

PT boat

2 8.1
A small fast US Navy boat with torpedoes used in World War II
  • noun
  • /pi ti boʊt/
  • Archaic
translation icon : bote PT
  • Director and producer John Ford portrays the story of the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron, a PT boat unit assigned to defend the Philippines.
  • PT boats attacked
  • Communist PT boats
  • Three PT boats

He was lost at sea after his his PT boat was cut in two by in a fog by a a Japanese destroyer.

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Examples

  • Robert Montgomery, the lead actor, was a PT boat captain during the war.

    Academic text (2014)

  • We lost two PT boats yesterday not 2 miles from that bay down there.

    Too Late the Hero (1970)

  • You sent everything we had: tanks, PT boats, anti-aircraft guns.

    Midway (1976)

  • During World War II, the U.S. Navy deployed many PT boats for fast, stealthy attacks against enemy vessels.

  • A PT boat can reach high speeds and is equipped with torpedoes for quick military engagements.

  • The famous PT boats were a key part of naval operations in the Pacific theater of the war.

Synonyms

torpedo boat
vsPT boat
  • Specialized
1 6.3

A small fast military boat that fires underwater bombs near the coast

is a smaller, lightly armored craft used mainly by the US in World War II
motor torpedo boat
vsPT boat
  • Archaic
8.1

A small fast navy boat that carries torpedoes to attack ships

is lightly armored and linked mainly to US service in World War II
mosquito craft
vsPT boat
  • Archaic
9.2

A small, fast boat with light weapons used to attack or patrol

is lightly armored rather than unarmored
mosquito boat
vsPT boat
  • Archaic
8.1

A small, fast war boat used for quick attacks and patrols

is lightly armored and used chiefly by the US in World War II

Surface Forms

PT boat singular
PT boats plural

Morphology

PT + boat

The element 'PT' is an initialism (Patrol Torpedo) rather than a lexical word, so a learner who only knows 'boat' cannot derive the specialized meaning 'small, torpedo‑equipped military craft.' Because the crucial component is an opaque abbreviation not predictable from common vocabulary, a B1 learner unfamiliar with the term would not infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

PT boat comes from the U.S. Navy short form PT, which is 'Patrol Torpedo', and it referred to small, fast boats that carried torpedoes for quick attacks. That's why PT boat means that kind of fast military boat used in World War II.