mail boat
1
2.8
- noun
:
barco de correo
- Residents eagerly awaited the mail boat to bring news and supplies from the closest city.
Examples
-
At this time, his life was bounded by the arrival and departure of mail boats.
Fiction book (1990) -
The mail boat comes just once a month and the only thing I'm looking forward to more than your letters is the mosquito net my mission president promised to send.
-
The mail boat comes in tomorrow.
-
There's probably a mail boat once every 6 months or so.
-
I wait for that mail boat, too, because of Anton.
Fiction book (1999) -
These mail boats regularly carried passengers and their luggage as a means of subsidizing the cost of transporting the mail.
Academic text (1993) -
Her mother, an old bulb-eyed Canadian, singlehandedly ran the Church of the Nazarene and made Mrs. Burns ride out on the mail boat in every weather.
Fiction book (2000) -
The mail boat arrived at the island early in the morning, bringing letters and parcels from the mainland.
-
Every week, the mail boat travels across the bay to deliver important documents to the remote village.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A small vehicle used on water to carry people, like a rowboat or motorboat
698
3.3
A large boat or ship used for travel on water
5
9.4
A small ship that carries mail on a regular route
1
7.5
A boat that carries mail and sometimes people and goods on a regular route
A boat that carries mail and small supplies to islands and remote places
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a boat used for transporting mail' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'mail' (postal items) with 'boat' (a watercraft); the compound denotes the type or purpose of the boat. This noun-compounding pattern is common and cross-linguistically regular, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
The phrase mail boat comes from the simple image of a small boat carrying mail to islands and remote places. Because these boats were used to deliver letters and packages, mail boat now means 'a boat used for transporting mail', especially to remote areas.