container ship

or con·tain·er·ship

[ kuhn-tey-ner ship ]

noun

, Transportation.

1. a large ship that transports its cargo in truck-size containers that can be transferred from ship to train to truck without unloading and reloading the contents:

   Container ships may be a common sight today, but the arrival of the first American ones in European ports made headlines in the shipping journals of the time.

Word History and Origins

Origin of container ship¹

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

Finnish officials later said the incident had been caused by a Chinese container ship dragging its anchor.

From BBC

The area is home to refineries, freeways, rail yards, oil wells and massive container ships.

From Los Angeles Times

Six men - all construction workers fixing potholes on the bridge - died when they were plunged into the water after the container ship hit the structure.

From BBC

Currently their products are exported in frozen form by container ship, destined for markets like China, Scandinavia and the UK.

From BBC

Russian missiles have hit a civilian container ship at a port in Ukraine's Odesa region, killing seven people, according to local officials.

From BBC