What's the difference between tow and towboat?

Tow

Definition:

(n.) The coarse and broken part of flax or hemp, separated from the finer part by the hatchel or swingle.
(v. t.) To draw or pull through the water, as a vessel of any kind, by means of a rope.
(v. t.) A rope by which anything is towed; a towline, or towrope.
(v. t.) The act of towing, or the state of being towed; --chiefly used in the phrase, to take in tow, that is to tow.
(v. t.) That which is towed, or drawn by a towline, as a barge, raft, collection of boats, ect.

Example Sentences:

(1) About tow amyloid tumors diagnosed because of oropharyngeous signs, the authors remind the main symptoms at the upper airway and ENT tracts; the local, regional and general treatment will be discussed.
(2) Rebels succeeded in hitting one of the helicopters with a Tow missile, forcing it to make an emergency landing.
(3) The incidents allegedly occurred after Australian authorities were called to assist an asylum seeker boat that ran aground on an island near Darwin on New Year’s Day, and towed back to Indonesia, as part of the Abbott government’s policy of “turning back the boats”.
(4) Newly arrived in London from upstate New York, Ruthie remembers Rose, who was 10 years older, as bohemian, exotic and exciting, bursting with energy, despite the three young children in tow.
(5) Maritime search experts said this meant acoustic hydrophones would usually be towed in the water at depths of up to 2km in order to have the best chance of hearing the signals.
(6) But police are now using any means to crack down on the growing number of sex-work vans, namely parking tickets and tow-trucks.
(7) It was then towed out to sea by a navy vessel and has not been seen since.
(8) Twenty two cases of Guillian-Barré syndrome were studied at the Children's Hospital of the City of Morelia (State of Michoacán, México), in a four-year period; such that number represents tow out 1 000 of the patients hospitalized in that length of time.
(9) Recent media reports stated that boats had been towed back towards Indonesia.
(10) The TPL-25 Towed Pinger Locator System is able to locate black boxes on downed Navy and commercial aircraft down to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet anywhere in the world.
(11) With the tow substrates, 1-palmitoyl-2[9,10-3H] palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1,2(1-14C) dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, the majority of organically extracted label, after thin-layer chromatography, was recovered as radiolabeled diglyceride, confirming the presence of phospholipase C. Diglyceride levels were found to be closely correlated with [3H]choline (slope, 0.9820; r = 0.9844).
(12) The reduction in content of unsaturated fatty acids concerned all phospholipid classes in one patient and only the choline phospholipids in the tow other patients who were related to each other.
(13) Government soldiers who were trying to tow a damaged ambulance out of the partly ruined town of Luhanske admitted that anyone who went further down the highway towards Debaltseve would come under heavy fire from rebel small arms and artillery.
(14) "Chisora climbed down from the top table," he said, "removed his robe and then walked towards me, entourage in tow, in an aggressive manner.
(15) But this is not that occasion, and in the beige-on-beige meeting room at Burberry's HQ in London, with David Yelland, the ex-editor of the Sun, and her PR minder in tow, it's not quite so chummy.
(16) A tow-compartment open model was used in the pharmacokinetic analysis of the data.
(17) So I towed my little oil platform all the way down to the south again.
(18) The intrinsic processes contributing to the three discharge patterns of proprioceptive cuneate neurons described by Surmeier and Towe were studied experimentally and with computer simulation.
(19) The drag coefficient was high compared with that of phocid seals examined during gliding or towing experiments, indicating an increased drag encumbered by actively swimming seals.
(20) They also produced soft boots with Velcro straps, parent-friendly, one-strap bindings (though kids can also ride without) and a Riglet Reel tow rope that tacks on to the front of the board so that you can pull your toddler along like an errant spaniel, while giving them a good idea of the snow-riding sensation they are aiming for.