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Webster 1913 Edition

Ferry

Fer′ry

(fĕr′ry̆)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Ferried
(-rĭd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Ferrying
.]
[OE.
ferien
to convey, AS.
ferian
, from
faran
to go; akin to Icel.
ferja
to ferry, Goth.
farjan
to sail. See
Fare
.]
1.
To carry or transport over a river, strait, or other narrow water, in a boat.

Fer′ry

,
Verb.
I.
To pass over water in a boat or by a ferry.
They
ferry
over this Lethean sound
Both to and fro.
Milton.

Fer′ry

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Ferries
(#)
.
[OE.
feri
; akin to Icel.
ferja
, Sw.
färja
, Dan.
færge
, G.
fähre
. See
Ferry
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
A place where persons or things are carried across a river, arm of the sea, etc., in a ferryboat.
It can pass the
ferry
backward into light.
Milton.
To row me o’er the
ferry
.
Campbell.
2.
A vessel in which passengers and goods are conveyed over narrow waters; a ferryboat; a wherry.
3.
A franchise or right to maintain a vessel for carrying passengers and freight across a river, bay, etc., charging tolls.
Ferry bridge
,
a ferryboat adapted in its structure for the transfer of railroad trains across a river or bay.
–
Ferry railway
.
See under
Railway
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Ferry

FER'RY

,
Verb.
T.
[L. fero; allied to bear.]
To carry or transport over a river, strait or other water, in a boat. We ferry men, horses, carriages, over rivers, for a moderate fee or price called fare or ferriage.

FER'RY

,
Verb.
I.
To pass over water in a boat.

FER'RY

, n.
1.
A boat or small vessel in which passengers and goods are conveyed over rivers or other narrow waters; sometimes called a wherry. This application of the word is, I believe, entirely obsolete, at least in America.
2.
The place or passage where boats pass over water to convey passengers.
3.
The right of transporting passengers over a lake or stream. A.B. owns the ferry at Windsor. [In New England, this word is used in the two latter senses.]

Definition 2024

ferry

ferry

English

Noun

ferry ‎(plural ferries)

  1. A ship used to transport people, smaller vehicles and goods from one port to another, usually on a regular schedule.
  2. A place where passengers are transported across water in such a ship.
    • Milton
      It can pass the ferry backward into light.
    • Campbell
      to row me o'er the ferry
    • around 1900, O. Henry, The Ferry of Unfulfilment
      She walked into the waiting-room of the ferry, and up the stairs, and by a marvellous swift, little run, caught the ferry-boat that was just going out.
  3. The legal right or franchise that entitles a corporate body or an individual to operate such a service.
    (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

Translations

Descendants

Verb

ferry ‎(third-person singular simple present ferries, present participle ferrying, simple past and past participle ferried)

  1. (transitive) To carry; transport; convey.
    Trucks plowed through the water to ferry flood victims to safety.
    • 2007, Rick Bass, The Lives of Rocks:
      We ferried our stock in U-Haul trailers, and across the months, as we purchased more cowflesh from the Goat Man — meat vanishing into the ether again and again, as if into some quarkish void — we became familiar enough with Sloat and his daughter to learn that her name was Flozelle, and to visit with them about matters other than stock.
  2. (transitive) To move someone or something from one place to another, usually repeatedly.
    • 2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):
      A “moving platform” scheme […] is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays. […] This would also let high-speed trains skirt cities as moving platforms ferry passengers to and from the city centre.
    Being a good waiter takes more than the ability to ferry plates of food around a restaurant.‎
  3. (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.
  4. (intransitive) To pass over water in a boat or by ferry.
    • Milton
      They ferry over this Lethean sound / Both to and fro.

See also

Anagrams

French

Etymology

Borrowing from English ferry.

Noun

ferry m ‎(plural ferries or ferrys)

  1. ferry

Derived terms

Spanish

Alternative forms

Etymology

From English ferry.

Noun

ferry m ‎(plural ferrys or ferries)

  1. ferry

Synonyms

Etymology

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-Germanic *farjaną ‎(“to make or let go, transfer, ferry”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- ‎(“to bring or carry over, transfer, pass through”). Cognate with German dialectal feren, fähren ‎(“to row, sail”), Danish færge ‎(“to ferry”), Swedish färja ‎(“to ferry”), Icelandic ferja ‎(“to ferry”). Related to fare.

Pronunciation

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