Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tugboat

/ˈtʌɡboʊt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.53 in modern English

Syllables
tug-boat
IPA
/ˈtʌɡboʊt/
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A small, powerful boat used to push or pull barges or to help maneuver larger vessels.

noun

A Social Security Disability Insurance payment; monthly tugboat

Etymology

From tug + boat. Sense 2 from monthly tugboat, a reference to the saying "our ship has come in," here referring to a small, "reliable" "tugboat" instead of a large windfall.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈtʌɡboʊt/
  • British English: /ˈtʌɡbəʊt/

Inflected Forms

tugboats (plural) tug-boat (alternative) tug boat (alternative)

Derived Forms

tugboater tugboatman

Phrases

monthly tugboat

Frequently Paired Words

towboat

Synonyms

tug towboat tower

Questions

How do you pronounce tugboat?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈtʌɡboʊt/.
What does tugboat mean?
A small, powerful boat used to push or pull barges or to help maneuver larger vessels.
Where does tugboat come from?
From tug + boat. Sense 2 from monthly tugboat, a reference to the saying "our ship has come in," here referring to a small, "reliable" "tugboat" instead of a large windfall.

How to pronounce tugboat

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tugboat”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈtʌɡboʊt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “tugboat”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “tugboat” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.