noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A boat especially designed for saving the lives of shipwrecked people or people in distress at sea (either launched from the shore with a crew, or else carried on board a larger ship).

   "I've got a watch that turns into a lifeboat"

2. 2
   a strong sea boat designed to rescue people from a sinking ship wordnet
3. 3
   An emergency vehicle carried aboard a spaceship.

Verb

1. 1
   To rescue; to carry to safety

Synonyms

All synonyms

air-sea rescueboatbolt holebolt-holebreeches buoybuoy

Example

More examples

"There was no room for Leonardo DiCaprio on the lifeboat."

Etymology

From life + boat.

Related phrases

LEM lifeboatLM lifeboatlifeboat ethicslunar lifeboat

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.