ferry
Americannoun
plural
ferries-
a commercial service with terminals and boats for transporting persons, automobiles, etc., across a river or other comparatively small body of water.
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a ferryboat.
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a service for flying airplanes over a particular route, especially the delivery of airplanes to an overseas purchaser or base of operations.
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the legal right to ferry passengers, cargo, etc., and to charge for the service.
verb (used with object)
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to carry or convey back and forth over a fixed route in a boat or plane.
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to fly (an airplane) over a particular route, especially for delivery.
verb (used without object)
noun
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Also called: ferryboat. a vessel for transporting passengers and usually vehicles across a body of water, esp as a regular service
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such a service
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( in combination )
a ferryman
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a legal right to charge for transporting passengers by boat
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the act or method of delivering aircraft by flying them to their destination
verb
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to transport or go by ferry
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to deliver (an aircraft) by flying it to its destination
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(tr) to convey (passengers, goods, etc)
the guests were ferried to the church in taxis
Other Word Forms
- unferried adjective
Etymology
Origin of ferry
before 1150; Middle English ferien, Old English ferian to carry; cognate with Old Norse ferja, Gothic farjan; akin to fare
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Their waiter Amir, who preferred not to share his last name, ferried packed peach-and-pineapple hookahs and tall glasses of pressed watermelon juice from the cafe’s kitchen to the table.
From Los Angeles Times
Hundreds of clippers, schooners, sloops, barges, ferries, and steamboats raised and lowered their flags to honor the Arctic heroes.
From Literature
Army vehicles ferried them to a nearby camp.
From BBC
Andrew, a bachelor after his marriage to Sarah Ferguson ended in 1996, had a reputation for enjoying the company of women and using military helicopters to ferry him to golf events.
Unwilling to send more men that necessary into the kill zone, Ukrainian troops use ground drones to ferry supplies to dangerous areas and to evacuate wounded soldiers.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
