supertanker

American

[soo-per-tang-ker] / ˈsu pərˌtæŋ kər /

noun

a tanker with a deadweight capacity of over 75,000 tons.

supertanker British

/ ˈsuːpəˌtæŋkə /

noun

a large fast tanker of more than 275 000 tons capacity

"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 supertanker

super- + tanker

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.

A supertanker capable of carrying 2 million barrels of crude loaded at the port over the weekend, according to Kpler.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

According to Kpler, the ship that was seized was the Skipper, a supertanker holding more than a million barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude.

From Barron's • Dec. 11, 2025

The United Nations said on Friday it had completed the removal of more than 1 million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker off Yemen's Red Sea coast, averting a potential environmental disaster.

From Reuters • Aug. 11, 2023

The United Nations has started a operation to remove 1.1 million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker moored off Yemen's Red Sea coast.

From BBC • May 31, 2023

Edward Garvey, who was hired by Exxon in 1979 to help senior scientists at the time work on its supertanker project, said he was “not surprised that the science was spot on.”

From New York Times • Jan. 12, 2023

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