shipment

American

[ship-muhnt] / ˈʃɪp mənt /

noun

an act or instance of shipping freight or cargo.
a quantity of freight or cargo shipped at one time.
something that is shipped.

Synonyms:

consignment

shipment British

/ ˈʃɪpmənt /

noun

1. goods shipped together as part of the same lot
  
  a shipment of grain
2. ( as modifier )
  
  a shipment schedule
the act of shipping cargo

"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

Related Words

See freight.

Other Word Forms

misshipment noun
overshipment noun
preshipment noun
supershipment noun

Etymology

Origin of shipment

First recorded in 1790–1800; ship ¹ + -ment

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.

For merchants like Amberjack, even a seemingly small increase in the cost per shipment can add up to thousands of dollars each month.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Last week, a Russian-owned tanker carrying an estimated 730,000 barrels of crude oil became the first crude oil shipment to dock in one of Cuba's ports since early January.

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

The company also continues to see gains in weight per shipment, which is “often an early indicator of improving underlying demand, particularly from industrial customers,” he says.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

The shipment, first reported by the Financial Times, is due to arrive on Thursday or Friday.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

"It's very popular. We're expecting another shipment next week."

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023