A scow formerly used on rivers.
1782. A small Flat, or scow, with one end broke.—Advt., Maryland Journal, Sept. 10.
1784. For a year past [he] hath worked chiefly in a wood-flat.—Runaway advt., id., June 29.
1788. The savages had in their possession a flat, in which eight or ten of them gave chace to the French gentleman.—Kentucky Gazette, April 4.
1801. Went down the Mississippi, Jan. 1 to June 30, 1801, 440 flat boats, 26 keel boats, and 7 large canoes.—Mass. Spy, Nov. 25.
1820. “A Well Finished Flat, 42 feet long, 81/2 feet wide, 2 feet 2 inches high,” advertised for sale by F. W. Maurer, Lancaster (Pa.) Journal, June 2.
1823. [We] crossed the Wateree river, in the stage, on a flat.—W. Faux, ‘Memorable Days in America,’ p. 54 (Lond.).
1829. Like Noah, the captain had housed his all in an ark, called in our Western language a flat-boat. [Here the boat is fully described.]… The plunder was stowed in the capacious inside. Equally broad at the bow and the stern, it was but natural that these unique crafts went by the name of “broad-horns.”—Shields, ‘Life of Prentiss,’ p. 31 (1884).
1837. Harriet Martineau. (N.E.D.)
