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Synonyms

freighter

American  
[fray-ter] / ˈfreɪ tər /

noun

  1. a vessel used mainly for carrying cargo.

  2. a large aircraft or spacecraft used primarily for transporting cargo and equipment.

    The space station of the future will be supplied by robot freighters.

  3. a person whose occupation it is to receive and forward freight.

  4. a person for whom freight is transported; shipper.


freighter British  
/ ˈfreɪtə /

noun

  1. a ship or aircraft designed for transporting cargo

  2. a person concerned with the loading or chartering of a ship

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of freighter

First recorded in 1615–25; freight + -er 1


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

“They fooled us,” says Victor, retired after a life as a freighter crewman.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

He said these included a French ship and a freighter from the UK.

From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026

Consider the March 1942 sinking of the British freighter Induna.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

In one operation about 35 nautical miles from the small island of Gavdos, off Crete, a coastguard vessel, a Danish freighter and a helicopter took 365 people off a fishing boat, according to the agency.

From Barron's ● Dec. 26, 2025

History’s first aerial bombing and sinking of a ship at sea took place in February 1916, when a German bomber sank a British freighter.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

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