freighter

[ frey-ter ]

noun

1. a vessel used mainly for carrying cargo.
2. a large aircraft or spacecraft used primarily for transporting cargo and equipment:

   The space station of the future will be supplied by robot freighters.

3. a person whose occupation it is to receive and forward freight.
4. a person for whom freight is transported; shipper.

freighter

/ ˈfreɪtə /

noun

1. a ship or aircraft designed for transporting cargo
2. a person concerned with the loading or chartering of a ship

Word History and Origins

Origin of freighter¹

First recorded in 1615–25; freight + -er ¹

Example Sentences

When you think about the folk era, when it was really hot — burning hot — it was hobos on freighters writing songs about social injustice.

From Los Angeles Times

After the telegram arrived, instructing him to head to Le Harve, the 19-year-old discovered the only available ship was a freighter packed with army lorries, according to the Royal Navy.

From BBC

Offshore, more grain-laden freighters had already left the port, passing vessels about to enter.

From New York Times

History’s first aerial bombing and sinking of a ship at sea took place in February 1916, when a German bomber sank a British freighter.

From Literature

The path taken by the cargo ship - which was exiting the Port of Baltimore under the Key Bridge - is "no stranger to large freighters", the city's representatives wrote.

From BBC

Related Words

• car
• crate
• jeep
• lorry
• pickup
• rig
• van
• wagon