ferry
noun · verb
Simple meaning
To carry or transport over a contracted body of water, as a river or strait.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fehreeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɛɹi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
nautical
Transport by boat or aircraft
nautical
A boat that transports people or vehicles across a body of water and operates on a regular schedule
nautical
A boat or ship used to transport people, smaller vehicles and goods from one port to another, usually on a regular schedule.
A place where passengers are transported across water in such a ship.
The service constituted by this watercraft's operation; the business (company) that operates such a service.
verb
Transport by ferry
transitive
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
To carry; transport; convey.
Travel by ferry
intransitive
To pass over water in a boat or by ferry.
Transport from one place to another
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Transport by boat or aircraft
Used this way, ferry is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a nautical use: it is standard at sea and largely unfamiliar ashore.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Sailing/maritime
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- ferryboat , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use ferry
- “We rode a large ferry across the bay to visit the island.”
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Related to Transport by boat or aircraft.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A ferry that transports motor vehicles.
A small town in northeastern West Virginia that was the site of a raid in 1859 by the abolitionist John Brown and his followers who captured an arsenal that was located there.
A small town in northeastern West Virginia that was the site of a raid in 1859 by the abolitionist John Brown and his followers who captured an arsenal that was located there.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “ferry” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.