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Definition of houseboat

houseboat

/ˈhaʊsˌboʊt/
house · boat
Plural:houseboats
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houseboat Lexical Profile

houseboat Game Scores & Validity

• noun

1

A boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home, often kept stationary on a river, canal, or lake.

Example

"They decided to sell their apartment in the city and live on a houseboat docked along the canals of Amsterdam."

Synonyms
View all synonyms for houseboat

• Nearby Words

house snake
house sparrow
house wren
houseboat
housebound
houseboy
housebreak

Word Origin & Etymology

A compound of 'house' and 'boat', first recorded in English in the 17th century to describe a barge equipped with a cabin, and widely popularized in the late 19th century for recreational dwellings on water.

Usage Trend

Historical frequency of usage in published text.

180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer

Cite this Entry

Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Houseboat. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/houseboat
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