DCHP-1 Online

iceboat

• 1a n. Hist. a small boat rigged to travel over ice.

  • c1752  (1852)  I have made upwards of twenty voyages without a small ice-boat, yet I do not deny the use of them.
  • 1857  One of the boats (whale) he had deposited on Cape Lady Franklin, the other (an ice boat) on the west shore of Byam Martin Channel.
  • 1945  During these few days, necessary trips to Kingston or Wolfe Island were made in "the iceboat," a big heavy punt on runners.

• 1b n. See quotes.

  • 1853  . . . it was justly argued that the "ice-boat" had not been able to cross the [Northumberland] Straits.
  • 1883  The mails have been carried by the old ice-boat line from Cape Traverse to Cape Tormentine, while travellers have often been unable to cross.
  • 1923  Passengers who crossed the Straits . . . were carried [until 1915] in little amphibious ice-boats fitted with runners, oars and sails, and plying between Cape Traverse, P.E.I., and Cape Tormentine, N.B.
  • 1939  In the winter the cold and heavy ice-boats took the place of the row-boats.

• 2 n. a strong, often triangular, frame mounted on runners and equipped with a sail and rudder, used as a pleasure craft on frozen lakes and rivers.

  • 1821  Ice Boat--A gentleman, at Chambly, having made a boat of this description, (running on skates, one on each side and a third near the rudder,) was lately sailing on the basins, when the wind shifted violently, and carried the vessel at an inconceivably swift rate towards the rapid.
  • 1846  (1927)  Ice-boats come into play on these occasions. These boats are fixed on a triangular frame, with runners like those of skates at each corner. They are propelled by sails. . . .
  • 1849  Ice boats, or sail boats, mounted on a large pair of runners, with an iron rudder, used to be in fashion in the winter in Toronto, but I saw none on this occasion.
  • 1964  Today iceboats are getting smaller and faster, and much easier to handle.

• 3 n. a boat equipped with runners, driven by an airscrew, and designed to operate on ice or water. See picture at scoot.

  See also: scoot  

  • 1963  He was with three other men in February when their ice boat ran out of gas on a lake north of here.
  • 1963  The ice boat passed under the plane's wing and its propellor caused an estimated $200 damage to the aircraft.

• 4 n. Fisheries a commercial fishing boat equipped with facilities for icing, or refrigerating, caught fish.

  • 1878  The crew of the Lady Ellen are building an ice-boat for the fishing trade this winter.
  • 1966  [Advert.] Ice-Boat Wanted, Preferably larger class to charter for trolling season. Coastwise experience, good producer.