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Hovercraft
(i.e.: ACV, or SEV ), Introduced into America in 1955. Defined in the Hovercraft Act of 1968 as follows;
A vehicle which is designed to be supported when in motion wholly or partly by air expelled from the vehicle to form a cushion of which the boundaries include the ground, water or other surfaces beneath the vehicle.
Basically a ship is a large vessel; and a boat is a smaller vessel, which can transfer you to the larger vessel! This is Maritime language and when used this way, the rowboat definition under "Vessel" makes our hovercraft weight values extremely heavy. You will find that in the private sector of hovercraft these weight restrictions and terminology are not considered.
AAC. Alaska Administrative Code, Appendix A Glossary of Definitions (PDF file)
Hovercraft A vehicle supported above the surface of the land or water by a cushion of air produced by downward-direction fans. This does not include helicopters or hovercraft.
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
(ACV), craft designed to travel close to but above ground or water. It is also called aground-effect machine or Hovercraft. These vehicles are supported in various ways. Some of them have a specially designed wing that will lift them just off the surface over which they travel when they have reached a sufficient horizontal speed (the ground effect). Others are supported by fans that force air down under the vehicle to create lift. In a plenum chamber vehicle the rate of leakage of this air from underneath the vehicle is reduced by placing a skirt around the lower edge of the craft. In an annular jet vehicle the rate of leakage is reduced by directing the air downward and inward from the outer edges of the vehicle. Air propellers, water propellers, or water jets usually provide forward propulsion. Click here to read more of the definition.
Hovercraft as defined by Alaska Department of Fish & Game, boat; any vehicle, vessel, or watercraft operated in or on water deep enough to float it at rest and includes hovercraft, airboats, personal watercraft, and amphibious vehicles.
Merrian-Webster Dictionary Definitions from their site. This site even allows you to hear the words. It should be in everyone’s reference bookmarks.
hovercraft
Pronunciation: -v&r-"kraft 
Function: noun
Date: 1959
: a vehicle that is supported above the surface of land or water by a cushion of air produced by downwardly directed fans
boat
Pronunciation: 'bOt 
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English boot, from Old English bAt; akin to Old Norse beit boat
Date: before 12th century
1 a : a small vessel for travel on water b : ship
2 : a boat-shaped container, utensil, or device <a gravy boat> <a laboratory boat>
- boat·ful /-"ful/ noun
- boat·like /-"lIk/ adjective
- in the same boat : in the same situation or predicament
ship
Pronunciation: 'ship 
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English scip; akin to Old High German skif ship
Date: before 12th century
1 a : a large seagoing vessel b : a sailing vessel having a bowsprit and usually three masts each composed of a lower mast, a topmast, and a topgallant mast
2 : BOAT; especially : one propelled by power or sail
3 : a ship's crew
4 : FORTUNE 3 <when their ship comes in they'll be able to live in better style>
5 : AIRSHIP , AIRPLANE, SPACECRAFT
vessel
Pronunciation: 've-s&l 
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French vaissel, from Late Latin vascellum, diminutive of Latin vas vase, vessel
Date: 14th century
1 a : a container (as a hogshead, bottle, kettle, cup, or bowl) for holding something b : a person into whom some quality (as grace) is infused <a child of light, a true vessel of the Lord -- H. J. Laski>
2 : a watercraft bigger than a rowboat; especially : SHIP 1
3 a : a tube or canal (as an artery) in which a body fluid is contained and conveyed or circulated b : a conducting tube in the xylem of a vascular plant formed by the fusion and loss of end walls of a series of cells
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