merchant ship

noun

Definition of merchant shipnext
as in motor ship

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of merchant ship But how those military assets figure into getting merchant ships moving through the strait again is not defined. — Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 4 May 2026 Four of the ships were tankers carrying crude oil or chemicals, with the majority of the rest bulk carriers, a kind of merchant ship carrying dry cargo. — Nbc News, NBC news, 10 Apr. 2026 As far back as 1975, when President Gerald Ford rescued the SS Mayaguez, the merchant ship captured by Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, presidents have acknowledged the law and dutifully reported their military actions to Congress. — Sarah Burns, The Conversation, 4 Mar. 2026 Under the cover of night on July 30, 1949, the Amethyst quenched all its lights on board and shadowed a passing Chinese merchant ship, the Kiangling Liberation, following it through the tricky shoals of the river. — Anne Ewbank, Popular Science, 18 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for merchant ship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for merchant ship
  1. aircraft carrier
  2. trader
  3. steamship
  4. barge
  5. steamer
  6. transport
  7. freighter
  8. tanker
Noun
  • The United States, for its part, is sending more military assets to the region, including a third aircraft carrier and thousands of troops, to join the largest force of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades.
    — Melanie Lidman, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The United States is now sending more military assets to the region, including a third aircraft carrier and thousands of troops, to join the largest force of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades.
    — Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of aircraft carrier
Noun
  • Polymarket can, for example, see the number of trades being made, the total value of buys and sells, how much traders are wagering relative to their overall activity, and their total profits and losses.
    — Melissa Lee,Paige Tortorelli, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The cost of the drugs there and in the private market limits their use, the philanthropist and former energy trader John Arnold notes.
    — Ben Smith, semafor.com, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of trader
Noun
  • That last pandemic was accelerated by a boom in rail and steamship travel but was eventually quashed by advances in science.
    — Faye Flam, Scientific American, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Passenger boats have not passed through these parts since the days of the steamship petered all the way out some 60 years ago.
    — Charlie Hobbs, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of steamship
Noun
  • The company’s barge, named You’ll Thank Me Later, has been making runs between the two states and recently docked to bring some construction material at KSC’s turn basin.
    — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The wreckage may have come from a schooner barge, a type of merchant vessel commonly used to transport cargo along the East Coast during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Robinson said.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of barge
Noun
  • The water should remain below the steamer basket when cooking begins.
    — Amber Love Bond, Southern Living, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Instead, remove wallpaper using a steamer, commercial wallpaper remover, or DIY liquid remover.
    — Lee Wallender, The Spruce, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of steamer
Noun
  • In his statement, Dan also blamed Russia for a spate of attacks in recent weeks on civilian maritime transport in the Black Sea, which has left at least three people dead and has raised fears of an escalation in Russia's war against Ukraine.
    — STEPHEN McGRATH, Arkansas Online, 28 Oct. 2026
  • However, the current results demonstrate selective ion transport rather than a complete industrial extraction process.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of transport
Noun
  • The freighter, with a crew of 25, was sailing with limited engine power Sunday evening.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Cargo ship cruisers For centuries, cargo ships have welcomed paying passengers, making freighter tourism a niche but enduring industry.
    — Maureen O'Hare, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of freighter
Noun
  • When the tanker’s food was exhausted, suppliers started bringing rice, daal, tomatoes and potatoes.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 29 Oct. 2026
  • The tanker derives from Boeing’s 767 platform, which has recorded 1,361 deliveries since 1982.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of tanker

Browse Nearby Words

merchants
merchant ship
merchant ships
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Merchant ship.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/merchant%20ship. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on merchant ship

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about merchant ship

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of wraith

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All