packet boat
1
7.5
- noun
- Archaic
:
barco de correo
- He found that the packet boat for the continent left Gravesend Pier at high tide every Thursday.
Examples
-
He starts the engine, runs the wipers for a moment to clear the dew, and heads on his daily round: picking up freight and passengers for his father's packet boat, the Captain Jason.
Academic text (1994) -
And I thought of the fleeing aristocrats in the Revolution; they must have passed this way to reach the packet boats to England!
Fiction book (1990) -
For most people, the packet boats are the only way to get back and forth to the mainland.
Academic text (1994) -
And from a nearby buoy we timed the passing of the packet boat.
-
From 1840 to 1880, packet boats, horse and mule drawn on towpaths, transported goods and passengers on a three-day voyage to and from Richmond and Lynchburg.
Fiction book (2002) -
The packet boat leaves the harbor every morning, carrying both mail and passengers.
-
Every week, the packet boat operates along the river, ensuring that important letters reach their destinations.
-
Tourists boarded the packet boat, excited for the scenic ride while enjoying the fresh air.
Synonyms
5
9.4
A small ship that carries mail on a regular route
1
2.8
A boat that carries mail to islands and remote places
A boat that carries mail and small supplies to islands and remote places
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is compositionally clear: a 'packet boat' is a boat that carries packets/packages (i.e., mail or small goods). Even if the historical nautical sense of 'packet' is specialized, a B1 learner who knows 'packet' (package) and 'boat' can readily infer it denotes a vessel used to transport mail or parcels along a route.
Etymology
Packet boat comes from small boats that carried packets, little bundles of 'mail', on set trips. So a packet boat means a boat that ran on a schedule to carry 'mail' and sometimes people or goods.