How to Use outboard in a Sentence

outboard

1 of 3 adjective
  • Because there’s no outboard hanging off the back, the whole topside of the hull is usable.
    — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, 31 Aug. 2018
  • The front seats are quite comfortable, as are the rear outboard positions.
    — G. Chambers Williams Iii, Houston Chronicle, 25 Oct. 2017
  • The boat is a 27-foot offshore style sport boat, inboard/outboard with loud exhaust.
    — Jc Reindl, Detroit Free Press, 28 May 2018
  • The 18 engines in the two outboard core stages shut down two-and-a-half minutes after launch.
    — William Harwood, CBS News, 6 Feb. 2018
  • His leg was scraped by the boat’s outboard motor before fire department rescuers could pull him on board.
    — Adam Geller, The Seattle Times, 29 Aug. 2017
  • On the other hand, all that motor and gear assembly creates a lot of outboard weight and bulk to the right of the blade.
    — Alex Rennie, Popular Mechanics, 26 June 2023
  • The outboard seats of the split-folding bench are more like bucket seats with sports-car-like lateral support.
    — Car and Driver, 27 Oct. 2017
  • The vessel, a 16-foot jon boat with a small outboard motor, may have been overloaded.
    — Todd Masson, NOLA.com, 16 May 2017
  • Front side thorax air bags and side-curtain air bags with rollover sensors help cocoon outboard passengers.
    — Emma Jayne Williams, star-telegram, 24 Feb. 2018
  • These types of boats can come in many sizes, with different motors (many of them outboard) and vastly different prices.
    — Laura Johnston, cleveland, 18 Jan. 2020
  • Rear seat heaters are standard, while ventilation is optional for the outboard rear seats.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Oct. 2019
  • The middle rear position is a tight fit for adults when people are riding in the two outboard positions.
    — G. Chambers Williams Iii, star-telegram.com, 19 May 2017
  • Someone had made it from an old Evinrude outboard engine housing.
    — Mark Davis, kansascity, 15 Feb. 2018
  • The crafts are classified as either outboard or inboard, depending on whether the engine is set.
    — Hasan Dudar, Detroit Free Press, 15 July 2017
  • Optional are heated and cooled front seats, along with heated second-row outboard seats and a heated steering wheel.
    — G. Chambers Williams Iii, Houston Chronicle, 29 Dec. 2017
  • Dealers will inspect and replace the second-row outboard seat head restraint guide sleeves, as necessary, free of charge.
    — Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 17 Apr. 2023
  • The two outboard stages, meanwhile, restarted three engines to slow down for atmospheric entry.
    — William Harwood, CBS News, 6 Feb. 2018
  • Their outboard motors were below the water, engines revving and clouds of diesel exhaust billowing into the air.
    — National Geographic, 30 Aug. 2016
  • The fishermen now use outboard motors to move up and down the rivers here or out into bays, but their boats looked like relics from a previous century.
    — Chris Buckley and Adam Wu, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2017
  • Roominess abounds front and rear for a car this size, and the back seat is rated for three full-size people, with three-point harnesses for the outboard passengers.
    — Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 15 Mar. 2023
  • Clean all outboard telltales with a piece of wire, and store the engine in a vertical position to make sure the water drains completely.
    — Popmech Editors, Popular Mechanics, 21 Nov. 2019
  • In the rear, two people could sit comfortably in the outboard positions, with a third person riding not as comfortably in the middle.
    — G. Chambers Williams Iii, star-telegram, 21 Apr. 2018
  • The final set of lithium-ion batteries will be installed in the right-side outboard IEA later this year.
    — William Harwood, CBS News, 15 Jan. 2020
  • There is a middle seatbelt in the back, but that position is not comfortable if adults or larger children are already in the outboard seat positions.
    — G. Chambers Williams Iii, Houston Chronicle, 13 July 2018
  • The boat driver uses the power of the outboard engine to push the boat along the shoreline at idle speed, usually at water depths no deeper than 4-5 feet.
    — Matt Williams, ExpressNews.com, 19 Dec. 2019
  • The 12-way power front seats are heated, ventilated, and have a massage function, and the second-row outboard seats are heated as well.
    — Daniel Golson, The Verge, 2 June 2023
  • The thieves used a forklift to haul away several outboard engines, including Mercury and Yamaha brands.
    — Jay Weaver, Orlando Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2023
  • In both hybrid and Energi versions of the C-Max, the rear seats flip down easily using a lever mounted on the outboard side of each seat.
    — Car and Driver, 22 Mar. 2018
  • Wash off the boat with a product such as Star Brite Hull Wash as well as the trailer, outboard engine, and trolling motor before heading down the road.
    — Colin Moore, Outdoor Life, 7 Feb. 2020
  • The rear passengers benefit from HVAC outlets in the center console and those outboard rear seats are heated.
    — Jeff Yip, Houston Chronicle, 18 Oct. 2019

outboard

2 of 3 adverb
  • The pods are placed outboard instead of being buried in the wing because American designers consistently favor this safer location.
    — Thomas E. Stimson, Popular Mechanics, 2021-07-15

outboard

3 of 3 noun
  • The throttle was near full-open, and the outboard was dead.
    — Bjorn Dihle, Outdoor Life, 4 Sep. 2025
  • The outboard is idling away, warming up for some run-and-gun.
    — Joe Cermele, Field & Stream, 5 Nov. 2014
  • From about a dozen feet away, Nagel fired into the outboard engine, then again.
    — New York Times, 28 Jan. 2021
  • Unique boats such as inboards, outboards, rowboats and canoes will be there as well.
    — Molly Korzenowski, Twin Cities, 21 June 2019
  • There were no whales here to distract from the monotony, just achingly blue sky, a raw wind and the drone of the outboard.
    — Kate Wong, Scientific American, 13 Mar. 2023
  • The middle seat is removable and outboard seats can be moved forward or aft and side to side.
    — Scotty Reiss, Parents, 24 Feb. 2026
  • These are small outboards with no fentanyl and no path to Florida.
    — Dan Gooding, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Conley, Phelan and I took one boat with a jet-drive outboard.
    — Bryan Hendricks, Arkansas Online, 25 Jan. 2026
  • To cover a long distance, an electric kayak outboard or gas motor is faster with a longer range.
    — Field & Stream, 19 Mar. 2021
  • The boat was described as a 23-foot vessel with two outboard engines.
    — Anders Hagstrom, Fox News, 17 Nov. 2022
  • Some outboards have an attachment for a garden hose to make the job easier.
    — Popmech Editors, Popular Mechanics, 21 Nov. 2019
  • Weight is the only downside—be sure to balance the kayak when sticking an outboard on the transom.
    — Field & Stream, 19 Mar. 2021
  • Our raft is one of three, with each holding a maximum of eight people, plus a guide manning the outboard.
    — Walter Nicklin, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2022
  • Same for outboard motors, although there will be Mercury motors for sale at the show.
    — oregonlive, 11 Jan. 2022
  • Here are five outboards that might well give you a reason to repower your boat with something quiet, clean, and new.
    — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, 16 July 2019
  • Young told the boy to keep his feet away from the outboard's propeller and turned the craft slowly back toward the private pier.
    — Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 29 June 2021
  • Also, in the case of the sleds, that trick is designed to save weight, and the outboards are already lighter than just about anything else.
    — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, 12 June 2019
  • The final set of lithium-ion batteries will be installed in the right-side outboard arrays next year.
    — William Harwood, CBS News, 17 Oct. 2019
  • The shark rams the boat several times, smashing its huge snout into the stern and damaging one of the twin outboards.
    — Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 25 July 2023
  • Wait fired up the outboard and pointed the bow northeast into the calm waters of Green Bay.
    — Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 13 Dec. 2021
  • Legroom for the outboard rear seats is excellent thanks to cutouts in the battery, which mean deeper pockets for your tootsies.
    — Elana Scherr, Car and Driver, 15 Mar. 2021
  • The cost added to a fishable boat and outboard is far beyond what the weekender can afford, which totally tilts the playing field.
    — Frank Sargeant, al, 17 Oct. 2021
  • As for propulsion, the Forte 47 is available with either inboards or outboards.
    — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 28 Aug. 2025
  • The views outside are expansive, and the outboard fenders make dodging shopping carts and weaving through tight trails easy.
    — Mike Sutton, Car and Driver, 26 Nov. 2021
  • Cassidy and Behnken are working to replace a final set in the station's right-side outboard arrays.
    — William Harwood, CBS News, 1 July 2020
  • Police suspected the truck may have been used to transport the outboard engines from Yellowfin.
    — Jay Weaver, Orlando Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2023
  • Despite the sloping roofline, bump outs in the headliner above the rear outboard seats help prevent any headroom qualms when sitting back there.
    — Eric Stafford, Car and Driver, 8 Nov. 2021
  • Think of them as cigarette boats, large, powerful outboard engined boats that can race out and get among ships and cause direct damage that way.
    — CBS News, 5 Apr. 2026
  • Think of them as cigarette boats, large, powerful outboard engine boats, that can race out and get among ships and cause direct damage that way.
    — CBS News, 5 Apr. 2026
  • With the Minn Kota, lights, and a battery for the outboard, this build has seven batteries on board.
    — Michael R. Shea, Outdoor Life, 15 Apr. 2020

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

Last Updated: