Liberty ship
2
7.5
- noun
- /ˈlɪbərti ʃɪp/
- Archaic
:
buque Liberty
- Speed in construction was essential since Liberty ships transported food and war materials across the oceans to strategic areas.
- eight Liberty ships
- eighty Liberty ships
- build a Liberty ship
Examples
-
The agreement signed on November 25 called for the shipyards to construct twelve Liberty ships at the price of $1.5 million each.
Academic text (2009) -
Savannah and Brunswick produced roughly the same number of Liberty ships: eighty-eight and eighty-five respectively, even though Brunswick started production almost a year later than Savannah.
Academic text (2009) -
It's an American Liberty ship.
-
Few books have been written about the Liberty ships.
Academic text (2009) -
Of the Liberty ships from Savannah, only three went down during the Second World War.
Academic text (2009) -
The official classification for Liberty ships was "EC2-S-C1," which describes the vessel's characteristics.
Academic text (2009) -
Without Georgia's two shipyards, 173 Liberty ships would not have been able to assist in the Allied victory.
Academic text (2009) -
His grandfather, Old Perrault, then seventy, was working full-time in Vancouver, Washington, building Liberty ships.
Fiction book (1990) -
The eighty-eight Liberty ships constructed at Southeastern were given USMC Emergency Hull Numbers 341-352, 1051-1074, 2432-2447, 2863-3898, and 2899-2907 for identification.
Academic text (2009) -
During World War II, the United States produced thousands of Liberty ships to support military operations.
Synonyms
26
3.0
A large ship that carries goods between ports
8
4.0
A ship that carries soldiers or military equipment
7
3.7
A ship that brings things like food and fuel to ships at sea
7
3.4
A ship that carries goods to sell
4
3.4
A ship that carries goods, often in containers
3
8.9
A cargo ship that carries goods between ports without a regular route
A ship that carries food and fuel to give to other ships
A large ship that carries goods on regular routes at set times
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'liberty ship' transparently signals a kind of ship because combining 'liberty' (freedom/name) with 'ship' (vessel) clearly yields a ship-related meaning; a B1 learner would likely infer it is a ship named for or associated with 'liberty'. However, the specific historical sense — a mass-produced WWII cargo/troop transport class — is not derivable from the constituents or general composition rules and requires world-knowledge or exposure.
Etymology
Liberty ship comes from World War II when the United States quickly built many simple cargo ships. They were called 'Liberty' to show they would help win 'freedom' and to encourage people, so that name stuck for this type of ship.