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Synonyms

ferryboat

American  
[fer-ee-boht] / ˈfɛr iˌboʊt /

noun

  • ferryboats
    plural
  1. a boat used to transport passengers, vehicles, etc., across a river or the like.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of ferryboat

First recorded in 1400–50, ferryboat is from the late Middle English word feryboot. See ferry, boat


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:

Beset by financial hardship, in part because of a devastating injury in a ferryboat accident, Meucci was unable to afford the $10 fee to renew his caveat, which as a result expired.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026

Mr. Erdogan, 70, grew up in Istanbul, where his father worked as a ferryboat captain.

From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2024

The ferryboat Julia B., derisively dubbed the “flagship” of the “Arizona Navy” by a Times war correspondent assigned to cover the skirmish, promptly ran aground on a sandbar.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2023

They also lent their manpower to the Deception Pass Bridge, which opened in 1935 over the protests of Berte Olson, Puget Sound’s first female ferryboat captain, who held rights to the route.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 1, 2022

He no longer worked the ferryboat; his eyes were becoming weak, also his arms and hands, but unchanged and radiant were the happiness and the serene well-being in his face.

From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse

The commission also oversees movers, brokers, ferryboats and wastewater.

From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2026

The funding measure would spend billions on highways projects and maintenance, transit access, removing fish barriers, building new ferryboats and more.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2022

These cases seem rather quaint when we read them today—after all, they involve spats about ferryboats and royal land grants—but they were at the center of bitter political disputes.

From Slate ● Mar. 24, 2016

Above the skyline, to the north and west, mountains rise into a darkening sky as bathtub ferryboats chug past beneath them on still saltwater the color of slate.

From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2010

As we steamed into the harbor, passengers on ferryboats waved their hats & handkerchiefs at us.

From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman

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