houseboatn.
/ˈhaʊsbəʊt/, U.S. /ˈhaʊsˌboʊt/ A boat designed or adapted for living in, typically moored on inland waters.In later use frequently with reference to a purpose-built craft not fitted with any means of propulsion.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels with other specific uses > [noun] > houseboat
house lighterc1761
houseboat1772
chop1859
house-barge1860
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > other types of dwelling > [noun] > houseboat
houseboat1772
Tanka boat1839
house-barge1860
shanty-boat1880
1772 H. Peckham Tour of Holland 156 There is nothing to be seen but a few little wherries, and some house-boats of the larger kind, fixed in particular parts.
1826 Times 4 July 2/5 At Godstow, a cold dinner was served up in large house-boats.
1868 C. Collingwood Rambles Naturalist xx. 333 Numerous large house-boats, two storeys high, richly decorated and ornamented, return from their various pic-nic excursions.
1887 Spectator 9 July 920/2 Summer life in a house-boat on the Thames.
1929 Travel Jan. 49/3 I watched the yellow lights of the houseboats slip past as we drifted from the lake into the current of the Jhelum River.
1992 European Trav. & Life May 84/1 Inside each lagoon..are custom-built houseboats nesting like a colony of giant white swans in their own private bays.
2009 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 7 Mar. 3 I..had to do some chores on my houseboat.., cleaning the portholes, keeping track of the water tank and fixing up the log-burner.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1772