What does "ferry" mean?
A boat or ship used to transport people, smaller vehicles and goods from one port to another, usually on a regular schedule.
Ferry
/ˈfɛɹ.i/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A boat or ship used to transport people, smaller vehicles and goods from one port to another, usually on a regular schedule.
- Grammar: ferry is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: ferryboat, access, aeroplane, airlift.
- Useful contrasts: bridge, bridge crossing, cease service.
- Usage evidence: We took a ferry from the island to the mainland.
How to use "ferry"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "ferry" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "ferry" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "ferry" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "ferry" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "ferry" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "ferryboat" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "ferry", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A boat or ship used to transport people, smaller vehicles and goods from one port to another, usually on a regular schedule.
"Near-synonym: ferryboat"
- 2 transport by boat or aircraft wordnet
- 3 A place where passengers are transported across water in such a ship.
"It can pass the ferry backward into light."
- 4 a boat that transports people or vehicles across a body of water and operates on a regular schedule wordnet
- 5 The service constituted by this watercraft's operation; the business (company) that operates such a service.
"In those days there was a ferry at Sleepytown. Modern roads and bridges for motor vehicles have rendered such local river ferries obsolete."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 The legal right or franchise that entitles a corporate body or an individual to operate such a service: a right of ferry.
"granted a ferry to"
Verb
- 1 To carry; transport; convey. transitive
"Trucks plowed through the water to ferry flood victims to safety."
- 2 travel by ferry wordnet
- 3 To move someone or something from one place to another, usually repeatedly. transitive
"Being a good waiter takes more than the ability to ferry plates of food around a restaurant."
- 4 transport by ferry wordnet
- 5 To carry or transport over a contracted body of water, as a river or strait, in a boat or other floating conveyance plying between opposite shores. transitive
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 transport from one place to another wordnet
- 7 To pass over water in a boat or by ferry. intransitive
"They ferry over this Lethean sound / Both to and fro."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 A census-designated place in Denali Borough, Alaska, United States. countable, uncountable
- 3 A township in Oceana County, Michigan, United States, named after Thomas W. Ferry. countable, uncountable
- 4 An unincorporated community in Greene County, Ohio, United States. countable, uncountable
Example
"We took a ferry from the island to the mainland."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "ferry"?
Common synonyms include: ferryboat, access, aeroplane, airlift, airplane, aisle.
How do you use "ferry" in a sentence?
We took a ferry from the island to the mainland.
How do you pronounce "ferry"?
Pronounced /ˈfɛɹ.i/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
Two main origins: * A reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Fearadhaigh (“descendant of Fearadhach”), a personal name probably derived from an adjective derivative of fear (“man”). * A metonymic occupational surname for a ferryman or a topographic surname for someone who lived by a ferry crossing, from Middle English feri (“ferry”).