noun
- plural of cockboat; small boats, typically rowboats or dinghies, carried aboard a ship for transport to and from shore
Usage: nautical; chiefly historical
Examples
- The sailors lowered the cockboats to ferry supplies from the merchant vessel to the dock.
- Each large ship carried several cockboats for emergency use.
- The crew manned the cockboats to transport passengers ashore.
- Cockboats were essential equipment on long ocean voyages.
- The captain ordered the cockboats to be secured to the davits.