How to Use outboard motor in a Sentence

outboard motor

noun
  • Carlos and Willy sat in the stern, next to the outboard motor.
    Nell Zink, Harper's magazine, 28 Oct. 2019
  • After a few hours in the water, the outboard motor stalled, and the raft began to sink.
    Matthew Wolfe, Harper's magazine, 10 Feb. 2019
  • But the swim had to be one-armed, with feet kicking like an outboard motor.
    Lesley Paterson, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Jan. 2023
  • Be sure that boat is clean and dry (drain plug out, outboard motor tipped down to drain out water).
    Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Apr. 2018
  • About an hour into the journey, the outboard motor on their 20-foot fishing boat groaned and died.
    Jack Healy, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2019
  • Linda from next door asked whether the craft would be sailed, rowed or powered by an outboard motor.
    Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 2 June 2020
  • The shark can be seen lunging at the boat's stern, ramming into the outboard motors and thrashing about the water.
    Chris Pandolfo, Fox News, 29 July 2023
  • The boat is believed to be a small fishing vessel with an outboard motor.
    Anna Giaritelli, Washington Examiner, 2 May 2021
  • The boat was a 33-foot Protector Targa, a speed boat with an outboard motor.
    Anna Bauman, SFChronicle.com, 16 Sep. 2019
  • On the other hand, the audience rebuffed the two-stroke outboard motor ban.
    Bryan Hendricks, Arkansas Online, 30 Oct. 2022
  • The cost of fuel’s gone up a little bit, but outboard motors are a lot more efficient.
    Steve Waters, miamiherald, 11 Feb. 2018
  • Each day Julia watched for the postman to deliver the mail, his hand on the outboard motor steering him toward the dock.
    Jennifer Gilmore, Harper’s Magazine , 13 Mar. 2023
  • Instead of a raft, Mr. Raban traveled to cities and towns along the river in an aluminum boat with an outboard motor.
    Richard Sandomir, New York Times, 18 Jan. 2023
  • Many areas will require a bigger duck boat with an outboard motor, and some spots can be accessed on foot.
    Ryan Chelius, Field & Stream, 8 Dec. 2020
  • One raised his head from the water and bit a corner of the outboard motor almost delicately.
    Susan Casey, Outside Online, 11 July 2018
  • Boaters use a deep-cycle marine battery to start and run outboard motors or to power a trolling motor.
    Ric Burnley, Field & Stream, 3 Apr. 2023
  • One memorable award went to a boat captain who screamed past a marker buoy on the wrong side, shearing off the lower unit from his outboard motor on Lake of the Woods.
    Tony Kennedy, Star Tribune, 27 Aug. 2020
  • Khosravani turned off his outboard motor once the woman was close to the boat, then leaned over and managed to hook his arms beneath her armpits and yank her onto the deck.
    Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2021
  • Some of the places puddle ducks like best simply can’t be accessed with a regular outboard motor.
    Will Brantley, Field & Stream, 14 Dec. 2020
  • The news release said officials found 40 dead sharks on board the fishing boat, which was about 30 feet long with a slender profile and an outboard motor.
    Taylor Pettaway, San Antonio Express-News, 4 Aug. 2022
  • San Diego showed rescuers searching near a red open-hulled boat with an outboard motor in shallow water.
    Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 July 2021
  • For all day power and blazing top speed, an electric outboard motor is the most popular choice.
    Field & Stream, 19 Mar. 2021
  • Panga boats are fishing vessels that tend to be about 20 feet long and often are powered by outboard motors.
    Sonali Kohli, latimes.com, 19 June 2018
  • Later, it would be noted that its outboard motor had broken.
    Hermione Hoby, Harper's Magazine, 22 June 2021
  • Freighter-style canoes with outboard motors drifted adjacent to the dock.
    Brian Irwin, BostonGlobe.com, 11 July 2018
  • Boarding the inflatable raft, equipped with a powerful outboard motor, is timed to the low tide that afternoon.
    Walter Nicklin, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2022
  • Four men and about 6,300 pounds of cocaine were found aboard the low-profile vessel — boats that ride low in the water with several outboard motors for speed and paint jobs that camouflage them in the waves.
    Kristina Davis, sandiegouniontribune.com, 20 Sep. 2017
  • Many parties choose to bring an outboard motor for the final, flat section of the river where the water from Lake Mead has pushed upstream, burying former rapids, slowing the flow of the river.
    Brendan Leonard, Outside Online, 30 June 2020
  • The tiny but powerful kayak outboard motor runs off a matching lithium-ion battery and generates 30 pounds of thrust.
    Field & Stream, 19 Mar. 2021
  • The tiny but powerful kayak outboard motor runs off a matching lithium-ion battery and generates 30 pounds of thrust.
    Max Inchausti, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'outboard motor.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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