showboat

show·boat

S0371300 (shō′bōt′)n.1. A riverboat equipped with a theater, especially one that stops at towns along the river and offers performances.2. One who seeks attention by ostentatious behavior; a showoff.intr.v. show·boat·ed, show·boat·ing, show·boats To show off.

showboat

(ˈʃəʊˌbəʊt) n1. (Nautical Terms) a paddle-wheel river steamer with a theatre and a repertory company2. (Theatre) a paddle-wheel river steamer with a theatre and a repertory companyvb (intr) to perform or behave in a showy and flamboyant way

show•boat

(ˈʃoʊˌboʊt)

n. 1. a boat, esp. a paddle-wheel steamer, used as a traveling theater. 2. a show-off. v.i. 3. to perform or behave flamboyantly. [1865–70, Amer.]

showboat

A kind of floating theater that plied US inland waterways at the turn of the twentieth century stopping to give performances at various settlements.

Thesaurus

Noun

showboat - a river steamboat on which theatrical performances could be given (especially on the Mississippi River)river boat - a boat used on rivers or to ply a riversteamboat - a boat propelled by a steam engine

Translations

showboat

showboat.

In the early 19th cent. entertainment was brought by boat to the pioneers that settled along the western rivers (especially the Mississippi and Ohio) of the United States. At first companies only traveled by boat, performing on land. Later the boats themselves, first paddle boats and finally steamboats, were equipped with stages. Docking near a town, they would herald their arrival with trumpets and flags. The companies presented popular melodramas, with vaudeville performances, called olios, between the acts; by day, the boats often served as museums. With the coming of the Civil War, their popularity dwindled. Edna Ferber's novel Show Boat is an interesting description of the life of its people.

Bibliography

See historical study by P. Graham (1951, repr. 1970).

showboat

show·boat

showboat

show•boat

showboat

showboat

showboat.

Bibliography

showboat

Words related to showboat

noun a river steamboat on which theatrical performances could be given (especially on the Mississippi River)

Related Words