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Glite Dictionary
⚓ A ship repair dock ⚓ To repair a ship
drydock

drydock

1 7.0
A large dock that can be drained of water to build or fix the bottom of ships
  • noun
  • /ˈdraɪˌdɑk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : dique seco
  • After several months at sea, the cargo vessel needed to be cleaned and inspected in the drydock.

Examples

  • We are now entering into Galley Creek and all along the other longside drydocks.

    Black Eagle (1988)

  • By the same token, the Soviet Union agreed to finance the construction of a second drydock at the port of El Callao.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The place was called the Drydock.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • It is costly and time-consuming to lift a large ship out of the water to clean it below the waterline, so drydock maintenance can't be done very often.

    Academic text (2010)

  • The ship was carefully brought into the drydock to undergo repairs below the waterline.

  • The naval base featured multiple drydocks for maintaining and repairing military ships.

Synonyms

dry dock
vsdrydock
  • Specialized
4 6.1

A place where workers empty the water so they can build or fix a ship's bottom

has identical meaning but is one-word modern spelling
floating dock
vsdrydock
  • Specialized
1 5.3

A large platform that sinks so a ship can enter then rises to lift the ship for repairs

operates by draining a basin instead of submerging and raising the platform
docking facility
vsdrydock
1 3.7

A place in a harbour where ships stop to be loaded, unloaded, or repaired

is specifically designed to be emptied for work under the waterline
graving dock
vsdrydock
  • Specialized
8.4

A large dock that can be emptied of water so workers can fix the bottom of a ship

is more general, not focused on being pumped dry
floating dry dock
vsdrydock
  • Specialized
6.8

A portable structure that sinks so a ship can enter and then lifts it out for repair

uses fixed drainage rather than submerging and lifting vessels

Surface Forms

drydock singular
drydocks plural

Morphology

drydock = dry + dock (transparent) = dry + dock

Meaning is directly the combination 'dry' + 'dock' (a dock made dry by draining water), which is readily inferable by learners.

Etymology

Drydock is simply the two words dry and dock, meaning a dock you make 'dry' by draining the water. So a drydock is a place where ships are taken and the water is removed so workers can repair the parts that are usually under the water.