Swiftboat

Pronunciation varies by accent · noun

Meaning

A type of gunboat used by the United States military on inland waterways..

Definitions by Sense

1. A type of gunboat used by the United States military on inland waterways.
2. (usually used attributively) A smear campaign based on specious claims.
3. (US, politics, derogatory, transitive) To attack a politician with specious claims.
4. (by extension) To smear; to attack someone or something's reputation using slander, misrepresentation, or false accusations.

Example Sentences

The men narrowly missed death when the swiftboat in front of theirs took a direct hit from a Communist rocket-propelled grenade.

Kilgore represents one of Willard's guides into the heart of darkness. The swiftboat captain represents another.

We felt like Athenian sailors waiting for Persian triremes to blunder into the straits of Messina, but we were probably more like Vietcong irregulars waiting to ambush American swiftboat captains.

When I was serving on a swiftboat in Vietnam, my crewmates and I had a dog we called VC. We all took care of him, and he stayed with us and loved riding on the swiftboat deck.

Lately, however, Republican swiftboat attacks have begun to fall short.

So I saw this swiftboat TV attack on Jefferson.

The Swiftboat strategy aims at hitting the target at his/her perceived area of strength, to discredit and degrade what would have been a political advantage.

Morano went on to become the pit bull of the climate change denial movement, launching swiftboat-like attacks as before, but this time directed against climate science and climate scientists.

Synonyms for swiftboat

Antonyms for swiftboat

Related Words

Word Forms

• swiftboats
• swift boat
• swiftboating
• swiftboated

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

Practice and Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions