gravy boat

English[edit]

gravy boat (plural gravy boats)

A dish with a handle and spout, used to serve gravy or other sauces.
Synonym: sauceboat
(figuratively) A source of easily obtained money or benefits.
Synonym: gravy train
- 1946, The Magazine of Wall Street and Business Analyst:
  Not only have suggestions for their elimination evoked a great hue and cry of protest, but other pressure groups are plugging diligently in an effort to get aboard the "gravy boat."
- 1949, United States. Congress, Congressional Record:
  Everybody had climbed aboard the "gravy boat”—except the landlord; and he wanted to get in, too.
- 1963, New Zealand. Parliament, Parliamentary Debates - Volume 332, page 2086:
  Through drawing attention to that, many organisations which had never previously put in an application for assistance had tried to get on the gravy boat.
- 2011, Albino Barrera, Market Complicity and Christian Ethics, page 154:
  This herd behavior in not wanting to miss the gravy boat led to a collective lowering of standards that ended with the 2008 financial implosion.

dish for gravy