A boat or ship powered by steam engines, typically using paddle wheels for propulsion. Historically important for river and lake transportation in the 19th century.
Compound word from 'steam' and 'boat', first recorded in the early 1800s coinciding with the development of steam-powered vessels. Robert Fulton's successful steamboat in 1807 popularized both the technology and the term in American English.
Steamboats revolutionized American expansion by making upstream river travel practical for the first time - before steam power, boats could only drift downstream with the current. The iconic paddle wheel steamboats of the Mississippi River became symbols of American commerce and culture, inspiring everything from Mark Twain's writings to jazz music.
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