ship

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Science

n. a vehicle used for traveling in space.

n. a vehicle designed for travel or operation in outer space; often a clipping of 'spaceship'.

“In the movie, the alien ship landed silently in the middle of the desert.”

“Engineers monitored the ship's trajectory closely as it prepared to enter the planet's atmosphere.”

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Slang · Informal

n. a romantic relationship between two characters in a story that fans support.

n. a fictional romantic relationship between characters, especially one promoted or discussed by fans.

“My favorite ship in the series is the hero and his rival.”

“The writers eventually made the popular fan ship canon in the final season, much to the delight of the online community.”

B1 · Intermediate

v. to send a physical item to someone, usually by mail or a delivery service.

v. to transport or transmit goods via any carrier or medium.

“The company will ship your order within three business days.”

“Due to the global supply chain crisis, the manufacturer was unable to ship the components until late September.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate Computing

v. to make a new product or software available for people to buy or use.

v. to release a finished product, particularly software or digital media, to customers or the general public.

“The team worked all night to make sure the app was ready to ship on Monday.”

“The studio decided to ship the game despite several known bugs, intending to fix them with a day-one patch.”

C1 · Advanced Slang · Informal

v. to want two characters in a story to be in a romantic relationship.

v. to support or advocate for a romantic pairing between two characters in a fictional work.

“I really ship those two characters because they have great chemistry.”

“Fans began to ship the two leads after the first episode, despite the show's creators insisting they were just friends.”