Meanings
nounPT boat (plural PT boats)
plural PT boats
- USgovernmentA type of fast motor torpedo boat used by the US Navy during World War II.
The PT boat is not merely a small boat for attack in rivers and inland seas. It is a deadly offensive weapon for use under the most trying conditions [...]
1943, Lawrence Conant, quoting Charles Edison, “The PT Boats: Weapons of Opportunity”, in William Harrison Fetridge, editor, The Navy Reader
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna small fast unarmored and lightly armed torpedo boat; P(atrol) T(orpedo) boat
Similar
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Initialism of patrol torpedo boat.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
PT boat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/PT%20boat
MLA
“PT boat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/PT%20boat. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “PT boat,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/PT%20boat.
Source: PT boat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.