ferry
n. countablen. a boat or ship that carries people, cars, and goods across a short stretch of water. It usually travels back and forth on a regular schedule.
n. a vessel used to transport passengers, vehicles, or cargo across a body of water, typically on a regular, scheduled route.
We take the ferry to the island every summer.
The morning ferry was delayed by twenty minutes due to the thick fog in the harbor.
Commuters rely on the high-speed ferry to bypass the congested bridge traffic, significantly reducing their daily travel time between the suburbs and the city center.
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.
Commonly used with the verbs 'take', 'catch', or 'board'.