ferry

CEFRB1

/ˈfɛɹi/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A boat or vehicle that carries people across water.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    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.

Examples

  • We had a rough crossing on an old ferry.

  • We took a ferry from the island to the mainland.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Also pronounced

  • /ˈfeɹi/
  • /ˈfɛɾe/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. To move someone or something from one place to another, usually repeatedly.

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To carry; transport; convey.

  2. To pass over water in a boat or by ferry.

More examples

In context

  • Being a good waiter takes more than the ability to ferry plates of food around a restaurant.

  • Trucks plowed through the water to ferry flood victims to safety.

  • Near-synonym: ferryboat

Synonyms

Quick test

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Question 1 · Quick check

We took the early morning blank to cross the river to the island.

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Nearby

Origin

noun

The verb is from Middle English ferien (“to carry, convey”), from Old English ferian, from Proto-West Germanic *farjan, from Proto-Germanic *farjaną, which see for cognates. This verb is the causative of Proto-Germanic *faraną (“to go, travel”), whence English fare; ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *per-. The noun is from Middle English ferie (“place of crossing, ferry”), which was derived from the above verb under influence of Old Norse ferja, from Proto-Germanic *farjǭ, itself also from the verb. False cognate of Latin ferō.