Dinghy
//ˈdɪŋ.i// noun, verb
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A small open boat, propelled by oars or paddles, carried as a tender, lifeboat, or pleasure craft on a ship.
"The dinghy was trailing astern at the end of its painter, and Merrion looked at it as he passed. He saw that it was a battered-looking affair of the prahm type, with a blunt snout, and like the parent ship, had recently been painted a vivid green."
- 2 a small boat of shallow draft with cross thwarts for seats and rowlocks for oars with which it is propelled wordnet
- 3 A sailing dinghy.
- 4 An inflatable rubber life raft.
Verb
- 1 To travel by dinghy. intransitive
Example
More examples"Down by the dinghy our cat is being hazarded by an angry pelican."
Etymology
From Bengali ডিঙি (ḍiṅi), perhaps from Sanskrit द्रोण (droṇa, “wooden trough”).
Related phrases
More for "dinghy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.