Boat" bug` (&?;). (Zoöl.) An aquatic hemipterous insect of the genus Notonecta; -- so called from swimming on its back, which gives it the appearance of a little boat. Called also boat fly, boat insect, boatman, and water boatman.
Boat"ful (&?;), n.; pl. Boatfuls. The quantity or amount that fills a boat.
Boat"house` (&?;), n. A house for sheltering boats.
Half the latticed boathouse hides.
Wordsworth.
Boat"ing, n. 1. The act or practice of rowing or sailing, esp. as an amusement; carriage in boats.
2. In Persia, a punishment of capital offenders, by laying them on the back in a covered boat, where they are left to perish.
Bo*a"tion (&?;), n. [L. boatus, fr. boare to roar.] A crying out; a roaring; a bellowing; reverberation. [Obs.]
The guns were heard . . . about a hundred Italian miles, in long boations.
Derham.
Boat"man (&?;), n.; pl. Boatmen (&?;). 1. A man who manages a boat; a rower of a boat.
As late the boatman hies him home.
Percival.