fly boat—(dated)
1. a passenger boat formerly used on canals:
- Until the advent of “fly boats” … there was no night working, with the canals open only from sunrise to sunset.
2. a large flat-bottomed coasting boat:
- Captain George Weymouth made a voyage of discovery to the northwest with two flyboats.
3. a small boat, especially a ship’s boat:
- We see the vessel bound for the distant seas hoist sails, while the humble flyboat carries to shore those friends…
flying boat—(also: air boat) a seaplane with a boatlike fuselage:
- Short’s Empire class flying boats fifty years ago could offer a bed in the air.