Word.ws English Dictionary

gravy boat

gravy boat noun: a dish with a handle and spout, used to serve gravy or other sauces.

gravy boat: a dish with a handle and spout, used to serve gravy or other sauces
Image: Wikimedia Commons user TheBernFiles, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

gravy boat (plural gravy boats)

  1. A dish with a handle and spout, used to serve gravy or other sauces.
    Synonyms:
    sauceboat
  2. (figuratively) A source of easily obtained money or benefits.
    • Not only have suggestions for their elimination evoked a great hue and cry of protest, but other pressure groups are plugging diligently in an effort to get aboard the "gravy boat."1946, The Magazine of Wall Street and Business Analyst
    • Everybody had climbed aboard the "gravy boat”—except the landlord; and he wanted to get in, too.1949, United States. Congress, Congressional Record
    Synonyms:
    gravy train

Examples of gravy boat in a sentence

  • Through drawing attention to that, many organisations which had never previously put in an application for assistance had tried to get on the gravy boat.1963, New Zealand. Parliament, Parliamentary Debates - Volume 332, page 2086:
  • This herd behavior in not wanting to miss the gravy boat led to a collective lowering of standards that ended with the 2008 financial implosion.2011, Albino Barrera, Market Complicity and Christian Ethics, page 154:

Synonyms of gravy boat

Forms of gravy boat

pluralgravy boats

Questions about gravy boat

What does gravy boat mean?
Gravy boat means a dish with a handle and spout, used to serve gravy or other sauces.
How do you use gravy boat in a sentence?
Through drawing attention to that, many organisations which had never previously put in an application for assistance had tried to get on the gravy boat.
What part of speech is gravy boat?
Gravy boat is a noun.
What is the plural of gravy boat?
The plural of gravy boat is gravy boats.

Words near gravy boat in the dictionary

  1. gravs
  2. gravure
  3. gravure idol
  4. gravures
  5. gravy
  6. gravy boat
  7. gravy boats
  8. Gravy SEAL
  9. Gravy SEALs
  10. gravy train
  11. gravy trains

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gravy boat (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gravy boat.wav.

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