Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

ferry

[fer-ee]

noun

a commercial service with terminals and boats for transporting persons, automobiles, etc., across a river or other comparatively small body of water.

a ferryboat.

a service for flying airplanes over a particular route, especially the delivery of airplanes to an overseas purchaser or base of operations.

the legal right to ferry passengers, cargo, etc., and to charge for the service.

verb (used with object)

to carry or convey back and forth over a fixed route in a boat or plane.

to fly (an airplane) over a particular route, especially for delivery.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Ferry is one of our favorite verbs.

So is kibitz. Does it mean:

to flee; abscond:

chat, to converse

LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

verb (used without object)

to go in a ferry.

Origin:
before 1150; Middle English ferien, Old English ferian to carry; cognate with Old Norse ferja, Gothic farjan; akin to fare

Related forms

un·fer·ried, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To ferry

Example Sentences

Cab drivers ripped out seats to ferry victims from the scene.

Ferry service cuts back to three boats a week, weather permitting.

Instead they rely on the attractive force of liquid known as surface tension to ferry prey upward.

EXPAND

Cab drivers ripped out seats to ferry victims from the scene.

Ferry service cuts back to three boats a week, weather permitting.

Instead they rely on the attractive force of liquid known as surface tension to ferry prey upward.

The ferry is now run jointly by local governments, and it's free.

Summer brings out the all-American spirit in this small waterfront ferry port town.

The strategy would rely on private aerospace companies to ferry crew and supplies into space.

Foreign firms own the three ferry lines that serve the cross-Channel port, the town's mainstay.

With a bit of advance planning it's even possible to arrive at the park by ferry.

Ferry scoops up a mound of compost containing beneficial earthworms.

Just two roads offer access to a small portion of it, and bush pilots ferry visitors into the more remote areas.

Xinhua said three military transport aircraft had been deployed to ferry supplies and relief workers.

Stone quarries crush and ferry limestone chips to factories where they are treated in kilns and eventually ground into cement.

In other words, this type of aircraft could someday be built large enough to ferry around people.

If the craft are launched, the ferry service would join only two other scheduled services operating in the entire world.

Even in the off-season, you'll have to wait on an enormous line to board the ferry.

Twenty minutes and thirty cents gets this street musician a ferry ride across continents.

Parents are scared witless and keep children indoors or ferry them everywhere they go.

Even as the tunnel was being dug, ferry firms ordered bigger and faster ships, confident that they could undercut it.

We are separated from it by a long ferry ride and then a long drive.

They're a short flight or a ferry ride from larger places.

Adaptors at individual power outlets ferry the data into computers through their usual ports.

Plan for a sunset ferry ride back to town, when buildings and sky blush with pink.

Walk over the hill and grab a soft serve where the ferry drops off tourists, then continue.

Some smugglers have installed tracks and electric carts to ferry supplies.

Longer-term alternatives such as construction of a bridge or a ferry system were shelved.

I've known pharmacologists who handle pills they abuse all day, or restaurant servers who ferry customers alcohol.

And then you'll need even more aircraft to ferry all those people and equipment around.

Big companies lay on fleets of cars and buses to ferry staff to work.

Long lines of people wait in the rain for public buses, which have been diverted to ferry people to the march.

When a gleaming new ferry arrived in port this summer, it was supposed to lift the spirits of this economically depressed city.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

ferry (ˈfɛrɪ)

—n , pl -ries
1.	Also called: ferryboat a vessel for transporting passengers and usually vehicles across a body of water, esp as a regular service
2.	a. such a service
	b. (in combination): a ferryman
3.	a legal right to charge for transporting passengers by boat
4.	the act or method of delivering aircraft by flying them to their destination

—vb , -ries, -ries, -rying, -ried
5.	to transport or go by ferry
6.	to deliver (an aircraft) by flying it to its destination
7.	(tr) to convey (passengers, goods, etc): the guests were ferried to the church in taxis

[Old English ferian to carry, bring; related to Old Norse ferja to transport, Gothic farjan; see fare]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

ferry

O.E. ferian "to carry, transport," from P.Gmc. *farjanan, from PIE *por- "going, passage." Related to fare (v.). Related: Ferried; ferries. The noun is early 15c., perhaps earlier and from O.N. ferju- "passage across water," ultimately from the same Germanic root. The modern

EXPAND

noun use (1580s) is a shortening of ferry boat (mid-15c.).

COLLAPSE

Partners:Word Bloglines Citysearch The Daily Beast Ask Answers Ask Kids Life123 Sendori Thesaurus

About Privacy Policy Terms of Use API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Help

ferry

fer·ry