gravy boat
4
2.0
- noun
- /ˈɡreɪvi boʊt/
:
salsera
- Artie carefully put the gravy boat, which she had been holding all this time, on the counter.
- pour from a gravy boat
- serve from a gravy boat
Examples
-
Get 10 gravy boats.
Blog text (21) -
On the Sheraton table by the window, there was an arrangement of flowers in a Royal Worcester gravy boat: three pink chrysanthemums.
Fiction book (1993) -
I found the gravy boat!
-
Is it a gravy boat?
-
And people will actually lick the gravy boat clean!
Blog text (27) -
You know, you didn't have to return the gravy boat.
-
Like getting a new gravy boat so you don't spoil the set.
Fiction book (1996) -
Three separate bowls of vegetables and a bowl of mashed potatoes, plus a gravy boat, had to be passed around before Grandma lifted her fork as a signal to begin.
Fiction book (1997) -
She had inherited the beginnings of the collection from her aunt, and now she was adding to it: rows of pale, frilly jars and gravy boats on her kitchen shelves.
Academic text (2007) -
Pour the hot gravy into the gravy boat and set it on the dining table.
Synonyms
329
1.0
A shallow round container used for holding or serving food
85
4.5
A small dish used to hold gravy or sauce on the table
3
1.0
A dish used to hold food for people to share at the table
1
9.9
A metal covered dish for serving gravy that stays warm with a water tray
A small dish with a spout for pouring gravy or sauce at the table
A long dish like a small boat for serving gravy
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is literally built from 'gravy' (a sauce) + 'boat' (a small vessel/boat-shaped container), so its meaning — a small pouring dish for gravy — is directly derivable from the constituents. This compositional, literal naming pattern is common across languages and follows straightforward noun‑noun compounding, making it immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
The noun gravy boat comes from a small dish shaped like a boat that holds gravy. Because it looks like a little boat with a spout to 'pour' sauce, the name now means a small serving dish for gravy at the table.