Boatage
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Conveyance, chiefly of goods, by boat. uncountable
"At the verge of the town we had the misert of embarking on board another ferry-boat, the danger and destruction of horses; […] for they are oblig'd to leap out of, and into, deep water. […] This bad boatage, over a stream one mile broad is one of the causes of a new London road being open'd thro Llanwrst, which in a short time will eclipse the old Chester road."
- 2 A charge for transporting goods or people by boat; (countable) an instance of this. uncountable
"Droict de Rivage. Shorage, or Boatage; the Cuſtome, or Toll for vvine, or other vvares, put vpon, or brought from, the vvater, by boats."
- 3 The total capacity of a number of boats, especially of lifeboats on a ship. uncountable
"The Titanic’s boatage and flotation equipment were also well above minimum requirements. She carried 3,560 life belts; 48 life buoys; 14 30-foot lifeboats; 2 emergency cutters; and 4 Englehardt collapsible rafts."
- 4 Boats collectively. obsolete, uncountable
"For the Tovvn of Perith in Cumberland, he [William Strickland] cut a paſſage vvith great Art, Induſtry, and Expence, from the Tovvn into the river Petterill for the conveiance of Boatage into the Iriſh ſea."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"At the verge of the town we had the misert of embarking on board another ferry-boat, the danger and destruction of horses; […] for they are oblig'd to leap out of, and into, deep water. […] This bad boatage, over a stream one mile broad is one of the causes of a new London road being open'd thro Llanwrst, which in a short time will eclipse the old Chester road."
Etymology
From boat + -age (suffix forming nouns denoting an action, process, or result; a charge, fee, or toll; or a sense of appurtenance or collection).
More for "boatage"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.