gravy boat

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English

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Noun

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gravy boat (plural gravy boats)

  1. A dish with a handle and spout, used to serve gravy or other sauces.
    Synonym: sauceboat
  2. (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.

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