Meaning & use
shipbuilder
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person or company whose job is to design and construct large boats and ships.
Grammar: Countable: one shipbuilder, several shipbuilders. It can name a single worker or a whole firm.
Patterns
- a shipbuilder builds/constructs something
- work as a shipbuilder
- a leading shipbuilder
My grandfather was a shipbuilder in Glasgow for over thirty years.
The shipbuilder delivered the new ferry two months behind schedule.
Local shipbuilders are hiring again after a long quiet period.
nouncountablebusiness
A company in the business of making ships, especially for navies or shipping lines.
Grammar: Often used with company names and in business reporting, where it means the firm rather than an individual.
Patterns
- a shipbuilder won/secured a contract
- the shipbuilder's order book
The shipbuilder secured a contract to build four patrol vessels.
Shares in the shipbuilder rose after the order was announced.
Word forms
| plural | shipbuilders |
|---|
Common combinations
- a leading shipbuilder
- She now works for a leading shipbuilder on the north coast.
- naval shipbuilder
- The naval shipbuilder specializes in frigates and destroyers.
- work as a shipbuilder
- He worked as a shipbuilder before retraining as an engineer.
- the shipbuilder's yard
- We toured the shipbuilder's yard during the open day.
- shipbuilder's contract
- The shipbuilder's contract is worth several hundred million dollars.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shipwright
- Shipwright is the older, more craft-focused word for someone who builds and repairs wooden or traditional vessels.
- boatbuilder
- Boatbuilder is used for people and firms making smaller craft, not the large ocean-going ships a shipbuilder handles.
- shipyard
- Shipyard is the place where ships are built, not the person or company doing the building.
Word family
- shipbuilding noun
- The industry or activity of constructing ships.
- shipyard noun
- The place, with docks and cranes, where ships are built and repaired.
- build verb
- To make something by putting parts together; the base verb inside shipbuilder.
Commonly confused: shipbuilder or shipyard? shipbuilder or shipment?
shipbuilder vs shipyard
A shipyard is the site or factory; a shipbuilder is the person or company that works there.
shipbuilder vs shipment
Shipment means goods sent or the act of sending them, and has nothing to do with building vessels.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'shipbuilder' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A shipbuilder is a person or firm that constructs ships, so launching a new vessel fits. Option 2 confuses it with a dockworker or stevedore, and options 3 and 4 confuse it with 'shipment', which means goods sent.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “shipbuilder”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.