dragon boatn.
/ˈdraɡ(ə)n bəʊt/, U.S. /ˈdræɡ(ə)n ˌboʊt/ 1. A traditional type of Chinese rowing boat used in racing at an annual festival (see note), typically approx. 40 feet (12.2 metres) in length, made of teak, and decorated at the prow and stern with figures of the head and tail of a dragon. Also: any similar boat with a 22-person crew used in racing for sport. Frequently attributive in dragon boat festival, dragon boat racing, etc.The dragon boat festival, believed to have been celebrated for over 2,000 years, takes place on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese calendar throughout China and in Chinese communities worldwide. It commemorates the death of Qu Yuan (c340–278 b.c.), China's first known poet, who drowned himself when his home state of Chu was overthrown; the dragon boat races traditionally represent the search for his body.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels propelled by oars or poles > [noun] > rowing boat > other types of rowing boat
coblec950
row barge1466
bark1477
rowing barge1548
galley1570
caïque1625
catur1653
dory1726
skiff1793
dinghy1810
panga1811
dinghy1818
randan1838
dragon boat1846
guinea-boat1867
drive boat1879
pea pod1884
in-rigger1893
pointer1901
sandolo1928
1846 J. F. Davis Chinese I. viii. 293 Accidents frequently occur from the upsetting..of the ‘dragon-boats’, as they are called, from their great length.
1912 Jrnl. N.-China Branch Royal Asiatic Soc. 79 They raced with dragon boats, and cast offerings of rice into the river in memory of the day when the fishermen sought for the body of Kok Nguong.
1942 M. Cable & F. French Gobi Desert 33 The special dish connected with the Dragon-boat Festival..is made of rice.
1979 Washington Post 29 Nov. a23/6 There is a gold ceremonial dragon boat dated 1670 and taken from the imperial palace in Peking, according to a plaque.
1999 Triathlete June 13/1 The seafront will be filled with spectators for the same-day Dragon Boat racing..rowing, cycling and other events.
2. A Viking ship of war with a beaked prow; = drake n.1 5.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > [noun] > having specific ornamented prow
drake1862
dragon boat1895
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [noun] > long ship
chiulea800
longshipeOE
keel1605
cyul1610
viking ship1847
drake1862
dragon boat1895
longboat1928
1895 Æ. J. G. Mackay Hist. Fife & Kinross I. 20 Norse Vikings whose dragon boats preyed on the coasts.
1959 A. L. Guérard French Civilization i. i. vi. 125 Throughout the ninth century the incursions of the Northmen were increasing in fierceness and frequency. Their ‘dragon boats’ boldly ascended the Seine and the Loire, spreading terror.
1965 Slavic Rev. 24 u2 A 1959 novel about Sviatoslav..pictured him in a very Viking-looking dragon boat.
1996 Wisconsin State Jrnl. (Nexis) 17 July 1 b The club's entry in this year's Downtown Paddle and Portage race [is]..a Viking dragon boat.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1846