What does "ferry" mean?

1. (a transport ship) a large boat that carries people, cars, and goods across a river or a small piece of sea. 2. (a transport service) the business or service that provides transport across water. 3. (to transport) to carry people or things from one place to another, often making several trips.

ferry

n. · v.

US //ˈfɛɹi// UK //fˈɛɹi// fer·ry

1 a transport ship (n.)
A2 Elementary

a large boat that carries people, cars, and goods across a river or a small piece of sea.

a vessel specifically designed for the regular conveyance of passengers and vehicles across a body of water.

Example

We took the ferry from the mainland to the island for our summer holiday.

Example

The cross-channel ferry operates on a strict hourly schedule, accommodating hundreds of commuters and heavy freight vehicles daily.
2 a transport service (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

the business or service that provides transport across water.

the commercial service or legal franchise involved in operating waterborne transport.

Example

The local ferry was cancelled today because of the stormy weather.

Example

The city council is reviewing the contract for the river ferry to ensure the service remains affordable for residents.
- service
- route

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3 to transport (v.)
B1 Intermediate

to carry people or things from one place to another, often making several trips.

to transport people or goods, typically over a short distance and often repeatedly. Transitive in most modern contexts.

Example

The bus will ferry guests from the hotel to the wedding venue all afternoon.

Example

During the music festival, a fleet of small boats was hired to ferry attendees across the lake to the main stage area.

Origin

From Middle English ferien (“to carry, convey, convey in a boat”), from Old English ferian (“to carry, convey, bear, bring, lead, conduct, betake oneself to, be versed in, depart, go”), from Proto-West Germanic farjan, from Proto-Germanic farjaną (“to make or let go, transfer, ferry”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to bring or carry over, transfer, pass through”). Cognate with Dutch veren (“to ferry”), German dialectal feren, fähren (“to row, sail”), Danish færge (“to ferry”), Faroese, Icelandic ferja (“to ferry”), Norwegian Bokmål ferge, ferje (“ferry”), Norwegian Nynorsk ferja, ferje, ferju (“to ferry”), Swedish färja (“to ferry”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (farjan, “to sail, row”). Related to fare.