disembark
Americanverb (used without object)
-
disembarks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disembarked,
past participle, past
-
disembarking
present participle
-
to go ashore from a ship.
-
to leave an aircraft or other vehicle.
verb (used with object)
-
disembarks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disembarked,
past participle, past
-
disembarking
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disembarksimple
-
disembarkssimple
-
have disembarkedperfect
-
has disembarkedperfect
-
am disembarkingprogressive
-
are disembarkingprogressive
-
is disembarkingprogressive
-
have been disembarkingperfect progressive
-
has been disembarkingperfect progressive
Past
-
disembarkedsimple
-
had disembarkedperfect
-
was disembarkingprogressive
-
were disembarkingprogressive
-
had been disembarkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disembark
1575–85; < Middle French desembarquer, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + embarquer to embark
Explanation
Use the verb disembark to describe leaving a ship, airplane or other type of vehicle, like making sure you haven't left anything in the plane's overhead compartment before you disembark. Embark means "putting passengers in a plane or on a boat." Disembark is its opposite. When you disembark, you leave a ship or a plane, like when you can't wait to disembark at the port in order to go sight-seeing. When you disembark, there is a transition — you walk down a gangplank to go from water to land or down a special corridor to get from the runway to the airport terminal — unlike when you get out of a car. That's why you wouldn't use disembark for getting out of a car.
Vocabulary lists containing disembark
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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:
When visitors disembark the train, they head to an area inspired by Hogsmeade, a village that sits outside Hogwarts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
"Parties to the conflict should urgently work to facilitate safe passage for stranded seafarers to safely evacuate and disembark, as well as ensure the delivery of critical supplies," Mantoo added.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Thirty people, including the deceased passenger, disembark in St. Helena.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
They would not say whether passengers would be allowed to disembark.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
As soon as they disembark, a second ride is requested.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Once Chaplin’s character disembarks, though, a bit of pluck and a stranger’s generosity pull him out of a possible pit, and a new American life is born.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
The train then pulls into a station, and the man disembarks and flees down the platform.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2025
She disembarks at New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal just in time for the Fourth of July weekend, 2015.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2022
Kemp, the governor who appointed Loeffler upon Sen. Johnny Isakson’s retirement last year, has on previous Trump visits greeted the president as he disembarks from Air Force One.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2020
Dennis Rodman travels to North Korea as an unofficial ambassador on a mission of peace but is taken into custody the moment he disembarks from the plane.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
He then re-boarded the legacy Air Force One and disembarked from this plane.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Some 400 years ago, a six-legged invader disembarked on the coast of Spanish Florida and began making its way across North America.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
A fire broke out on board once the aircraft landed and passengers had disembarked, the BBC's US partner CBS News reported.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Erdogan even personally met Trump at the airport -- with the 72-year-old on several occasions holding the US leader under the arm after he disembarked his new Air Force One plane.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
Lawrence had disembarked from his flight and was home in Berkeley.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
The woman, a US citizen, journeyed halfway across the globe to reach remote Pitcairn Island after disembarking the cruise ship in Saint Helena, authorities said.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
Passengers wearing blue medical suits began disembarking the Dutch-flagged vessel onto smaller boats to reach the port of Granadilla on Tenerife, AFP journalists saw.
From Barron's ● May 10, 2026
Passengers began disembarking the ship Sunday in the Canary Islands.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2026
García said all passengers will wear FFP2 masks when disembarking, as will anyone who comes in contact with them during their transfer, such as bus drivers and logistical personnel.
From BBC ● May 9, 2026
Part of the distance they rode in the car, and after disembarking, passed the Pontellier mansion, which looked broken and half tom asunder.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
