roll-on roll-off
- noun
- Specialized
:
ferry de carga
- At the port, numerous roll-on roll-off ships are ready to carry trucks and cars to various destinations.
Examples
-
The roll-on roll-off ferry allows cars to drive straight onto the boat without needing to unload them separately.
-
The project will add a new jetty and dike to the port, as well as a regional trade terminal, a roll-on, roll-off station, and fueling pier.
Academic text (2010) -
Traveling by a roll-on roll-off vessel makes it easy for drivers to transport their vehicles across the sea.
Surface Forms
Morphology
roll-on + roll-off
The phrase transparently combines motion verbs/particles ('roll' + 'on'/'off') so a learner who knows those words can infer it describes moving on to and off a vehicle or platform. However, its specialized technical sense (a vehicle-loading method where vehicles are driven on/off under their own power) and its use as a fixed shipping term are not fully predictable from the parts alone, so it is only partly transparent.
Etymology
The term roll-on roll-off creates a clear picture: vehicles roll-on onto a ship or ferry and later roll-off again. So it means a way to move 'vehicles' by letting them 'drive on and off' the ship.
