Definition of tugboat | Bee Dictionary of English

Magic-eyed radar, which guides the Queen Elizabeth through North Atlantic fogs, can guide a tugboat, too.
At the time, Ford argued that many of its customers ranchers, farmers, um, tugboat enthusiasts needed a vehicle this big with over 10,000-lb.
Most everyone knows one fact about tugboats: a good tugboat man can hurl a torrid phrase across the water hard enough to make it bounce.

Ship owners: Tugboat capt. to blame for tanker crash into bridge
PORTSMOUTH — Before the Portuguese tanker MV Harbour Feature struck and damaged the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge on April 1, it was under the control of a tugboat pilot who "stipulated the precise number and arrangement of the mooring lines,"...
June 11, 2013 - Portsmouth Herald
Ship owners blame tugboat in NH-Maine bridge crash
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — The owners of the oil tanker that damaged a bridge connecting New Hampshire and Maine say in court documents that any negligence should be directed toward the agency that hired the tugboat captain. The owners say they were required by state law to allow the Pease Development Authority's tugboat captain to take charge of the vessel to "direct all of her movements" within ...
June 11, 2013 - Boston Herald
Tugboat capt. to blame for tanker crash into bridge, say ship owners
PORTSMOUTH — Before the Portuguese tanker M/V Harbour Feature allided into and damaged the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge on April 1, it was under the control of a tugboat pilot who “stipulated the precise number and arrangement of the mooring...
June 10, 2013 - Portsmouth Herald

Sean McCormack in Newsweek
Sneering at the weakness of Russia's fleet en route to Venezuela, McCormack said, "We'll see if they actually make it there. Somebody told me they had a tugboat accompanying them in case they break down along the way."
Ralph Nader in California Majority Report
With regard to the significance of their campaign, Nader argues, "At a minimum, a tugboat candidacy can push the major parties closer to the harbor of the people and away from the harbor of giant corporations that are tearing the heart and soul out...
Jim Brown in Scottish Daily Record
Brown said: "Dad was such a graceful player. He returned to the UK and there were a clutch of managers waiting on the quay to offer him terms. However, the Manchester United manager Scott Duncan had slipped a few pounds to a tugboat skipper who took...