DictionaryAI

ship

SHIP/ʃɪp/

Pluralships

Verbships, shipping, shipped

18 meanings of ship

Practice

  1. 1
    sea vesselnouncountable
    A craft for travel on water, typically of greater size than a boat.

    The cargo ship carried thousands of containers across the Pacific.

    Several ships anchored offshore during the storm.

    UsageTravel by ship, and go aboard or on board a ship.

    Similarvessel, boat

  2. 2
    send a packageverbtransitive
    To send goods, a parcel or cargo to someone or somewhere, by sea, road, rail or air.

    The company will ship your replacement part overnight.

    We ship orders worldwide within two business days.

    UsageShip goods to a place. An order can also ship by itself: it ships tomorrow.

    Similarsend, dispatch, transport

    Oppositereceive

    Note

    Here the vessel has dropped out entirely: freight can be shipped by railroad, and a by-phrase names the carrier only when it matters. This is the sense behind everyday commerce, where an order ships to an address and nobody expects a boat.

  3. 3
    flying craftnouncountablein compounds
    A vessel that travels through air or space rather than on water, such as an airship or spaceship.

    The ship accelerated past the moon on its way to Mars.

    Enormous ships hovered over the city throughout the film.

    Similarspacecraft, craft, vessel

    Note

    Mostly a word that lives inside compounds: airship and spaceship carry the old sea word into the sky and beyond it. Used alone, ship for such a craft depends on context to tell the reader it is not floating, as when a ship speeds past the moon. Pilots once stretched it the same way to an airplane, a use now dated.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

  4. 4
    release productverbtransitive or intransitive
    To launch a product, whether physical or not, by putting it into the hands of retailers or customers.

    We plan to ship the next version before the holidays.

    The startup shipped its first product after two years of work.

    UsageEither the maker ships a product or the product ships: the console ships in March.

    Similarrelease, launch, deliver

    Note

    Developers repeat the half-joking "It compiles? Ship it!" to mock releasing code as soon as it compiles, before anyone has checked that it works. The verb also appears without an object, with the product as subject, as when a new version ships in the spring. Software and games ship even though nothing leaves a warehouse.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • “It compiles? Ship it!” is an attested developer saying. inai.de
    • The joke concerns releasing code on the strength of compilation without establishing that it works. glenrhodes.com

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of ship apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1, 3

Old English sċip became Middle English ship. Its earlier ancestors are Proto-West Germanic *skip and Proto-Germanic *skipą, which may go back further to a Proto-Indo-European root. Related words include West Frisian skip, Dutch schip, German Schiff, and Scandinavian skib, skip, and skepp.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

  • Middle English ship developed from Old English sċip. en.wiktionary.org
  • The earlier ancestors are Proto-West Germanic *skip and Proto-Germanic *skipą. en.wiktionary.org
  • A further derivation from a Proto-Indo-European root is possible. en.wiktionary.org
  • West Frisian skip, Dutch schip, and German Schiff are cognates of ship. en.wiktionary.org
  • Scandinavian cognates include Danish skib, Norwegian skip, and Swedish skepp. en.wiktionary.org
Meanings 2, 4, 7–14

The verb started as Old English sċipian, built through Proto-West Germanic and Proto-Germanic on *skipą ("ship"), and became schippen in Middle English. Equip is a doublet.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

Meanings 5–6

A clipping of "relationship." It began around 1995 among online fans of The X-Files who wanted Mulder and Scully together and called themselves "relationshippers," soon shortened to "shippers."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts