banana boat

noun

1

: a boat for transporting bananas

… Barnes was a … free spirit who, disguised as a male seaman on a banana boat, had run guns for Mexican revolutionaries.

—David Roberts, Smithsonian, August 1994

2

: a long, narrow, inflatable recreational boat that riders sit astride while being towed by a powerboat

When the banana boat arrived out in the bay, almost opposite our house, all its riders fell off.

—Sarah Poyntz, Manchester Guardian Weekly, 9 Aug. 1992

Word History

First Known Use

1879, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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