1. A large, flat-bottomed sailing boat with one or two masts, traditionally used on the Nile River in Egypt.
Usage: Also spelled dahabeah or dahabiyah; Historical and travel contexts

Examples

• The tourists boarded a dahabiya to cruise down the Nile River.
• In the 19th century, dahabiyas were the primary means of river transport in Egypt.
• The dahabiya's shallow draft made it ideal for navigating the Nile's varying water levels.
• We spent a week aboard a traditional dahabiya, watching the landscape drift by.