flyboat
nounEtymology Borrowed from Dutch vlieboot, but re-analysed as fly + boat.
1
Historical A large flat-bottomed coasting vessel, formerly found in Holland, Spain and Portugal.
- August 14, 1595, Thomas Treffry, letter to Sir Robert Cecil a ship of Bristol was chased into this harbour by two Spanish fly-boats, and they report […] that there are five men of war, Spanish, in the road of Conquet
2
Ireland, UK, Historical A kind of (often horse-drawn) passenger boat formerly used on canals. Faster than other types of canal boats at the time, the horses would run along the towpath