Meaning & use
oceangoing
Last updated
UK/ˈəʊ.ʃənˌɡəʊ.ɪŋ/
US/ˈoʊ.ʃənˌɡoʊ.ɪŋ/
Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Built or intended to travel across the open ocean, not just near the coast.
Grammar: Used before a noun: an oceangoing ship.
Patterns
- an oceangoing vessel
The port can only handle oceangoing ships of a certain size.
They sailed an oceangoing yacht from Spain to Brazil.
An oceangoing tug rescued the stranded fishing crew.
Common combinations
- oceangoing vessel
- An oceangoing vessel needs strong hulls and plenty of fuel.
- oceangoing ship
- The oceangoing ship carried cars across the Atlantic.
- oceangoing yacht
- They saved for years to buy an oceangoing yacht.
- oceangoing tanker
- An oceangoing tanker docked at the oil terminal.
- oceangoing liner
- The oceangoing liner left New York at dawn.
Synonyms and how they differ
- seagoing
- Seagoing is nearly the same but may include seas close to land, while oceangoing implies deep open water.
- deep-sea
- Deep-sea describes activities in deep water, such as fishing, rather than the vessel's design.
- seafaring
- Seafaring describes people or nations who travel by sea rather than a particular ship.
- blue-water
- Blue-water is a sailing term for open-ocean voyaging, and is used more by sailors.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: oceangoing or seagoing?
oceangoing vs seagoing
Seagoing is the wider term for anything that goes to sea, while oceangoing implies crossing oceans.
Practice
Which vessel is most likely oceangoing?
Choose one answer.
Only the container ship is built for open ocean. The others are made for calm inland waters.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “oceangoing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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