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ferrying

ferrying

1 3.2
Transporting people and goods by boat or plane as a regular service
  • noun
  • /ˈfɛriɪŋ/
translation icon : transporte
  • She is responsible for the ferrying of passengers between the mainland and the nearby island.

Examples

  • He had left the Oval well ahead of the ferry's arrival with the stated purpose of stopping for gas, picking up the morning paper that had come in on the early plane, and making a reservation for the ferrying of his car across the sound as soon after the wedding as space on the steamer was available.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • My friend has a car-ferrying service.

  • Perhaps I made the ferrying and dropping-off part sound too easy.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Figured we'd give you some ferrying business.

  • It is a well-documented fact that the Federal Military Government, the International Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC), and other relief agencies played a cat and mouse game over the ferrying of food to the starving children of Biafra.

    Blog text (16)
  • The ferrying of supplies to the remote island was a vital service for the local community.

  • The company's primary focus is on the ferrying of goods across the river every day.

Synonyms

transportation
vsferrying
  • US
557 1.6

Moving people or goods from one place to another

is narrower, meaning scheduled boat or aircraft services specifically
passage
vsferrying
41 3.8

A journey by ship from one place to another

is used for organized recurring transport services rather than a single trip
transit
vsferrying
21 3.7

A journey that moves goods or people from one place to another, often by ship

emphasizes regular transport services rather than single voyages
ferry
vsferrying
19 1.6

A regular service that carries people and goods across water

is the action of running that routine transport service
sailing
vsferrying
9 1.4

A planned trip by a ship or boat that leaves at a set time

is focused on moving people or goods as an organized service
air transport
vsferrying
3 2.7

The movement of people or goods by plane

is broader, including both boat and aircraft routine services
air transportation
vsferrying
3 2.7

The movement of people or goods by plane

focuses on organized routine service rather than any air movement
boatlift
vsferrying
1 4.2

An organized effort to move people or goods by boat, often during an emergency

is regular scheduled transport rather than emergency or one-off operations
carrying
vsferrying
1 1.0

Moving something from one place to another

focuses on organized routine transport of people or goods by boat or air
steamboating
vsferrying
  • Archaic
6.3

To use steam-powered boats to carry people or goods on rivers

is broader, covering routine services by various boat types and aircraft

Surface Forms

ferrying singular
ferryings plural

Morphology

ferrying = ferry (transparent) = ferry + ing

This is a regular verbal noun/gerund formation from 'ferry', and the meaning follows directly from the base verb.

Etymology

Ferrying comes from old words that mean 'to carry'. A ferry is a boat that 'carries' people or goods across water, so ferrying is the act of moving people or supplies by boat or plane.