ferry

[fer-ee] /ˈfɛr i/
noun, plural ferries.
1.
a commercial service with terminals and boats for transporting persons, automobiles, etc., across a river or other comparatively small body of water.
2.
a ferryboat.
3.
a service for flying airplanes over a particular route, especially the delivery of airplanes to an overseas purchaser or base of operations.
4.
the legal right to ferry passengers, cargo, etc., and to charge for the service.
verb (used with object), ferried, ferrying.
5.
to carry or convey back and forth over a fixed route in a boat or plane.
6.
to fly (an airplane) over a particular route, especially for delivery.
verb (used without object), ferried, ferrying.
7.
to go in a ferry.
Origin
before 1150; Middle English ferien, Old English ferian to carry; cognate with Old Norse ferja, Gothic farjan; akin to fare
Related forms
unferried, adjective
Examples from the web for ferry
  • Cab drivers ripped out seats to ferry victims from the scene.
  • ferry service cuts back to three boats a week, weather permitting.
  • The ferry is now run jointly by local governments, and it's free.
  • The strategy would rely on private aerospace companies to ferry crew and supplies into space.
  • Foreign firms own the three ferry lines that serve the cross-Channel port, the town's mainstay.
  • With a bit of advance planning it's even possible to arrive at the park by ferry.
  • ferry scoops up a mound of compost containing beneficial earthworms.
  • Xinhua said three military transport aircraft had been deployed to ferry supplies and relief workers.
  • Stone quarries crush and ferry limestone chips to factories where they are treated in kilns and eventually ground into cement.
  • In other words, this type of aircraft could someday be built large enough to ferry around people.
British Dictionary definitions for ferry

ferry

/ˈfɛrɪ/
noun (pl) -ries
1.
Also called ferryboat. a vessel for transporting passengers and usually vehicles across a body of water, esp as a regular service
2.
  1. such a service
  2. (in combination): a ferryman
3.
a legal right to charge for transporting passengers by boat
4.
the act or method of delivering aircraft by flying them to their destination
verb -ries, -rying, -ried
5.
to transport or go by ferry
6.
to deliver (an aircraft) by flying it to its destination
7.
(transitive) to convey (passengers, goods, etc): the guests were ferried to the church in taxis
Word Origin
Old English ferian to carry, bring; related to Old Norse ferja to transport, Gothic farjan; see fare
Word Origin and History for ferry
v.

Old English ferian "to carry, convey, bring, transport," from Proto-Germanic *farjanan (cf. Old Frisian feria "carry, transport," Old Norse ferja "to pass over, to ferry," Gothic farjan "travel by boat"), from PIE *per- "going, passage." Related to fare (v.). Related: Ferried; ferries; ferrying.

n.

early 15c., "a passage over a river," from Old Norse ferju- "passage across water," ultimately from the same Germanic root as ferry (v.). The modern noun (1580s) is a shortening of ferry boat (mid-15c.).