ferry

ferry (someone) around

To drive people from place to place. Now that I have my license, my parents always want me to ferry my siblings around—it's so annoying. With so many relatives in town for my sister's wedding, I was the one who had to ferry them around. How hard can it be to ferry Grandma around? She only goes to church and the grocery store.

See also: around, ferry

ferry across

To carry someone or something across a body of water on a ferryboat. A noun or pronoun can be used between "ferry" and "across." No, it's fine—there are boats that can ferry us across the river. A: "Good plan, except for one thing: how are you going to ferry across the lake?" B: "You know, I hadn't thought about the lake at all. Dang it!" If we find a fisherman, maybe he can ferry us across the river.

See also: across, ferry

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

ferry someone around

to transport people here and there in small groups. I really don't want to spend all my days ferrying children around. Why am I ferrying around a bunch of kids all day?

See also: around, ferry

ferry someone or something across something

 and ferry someone or something across

to transport someone or something across a river on a ferryboat. Can we get someone to ferry us across the lake to the island? After they ferried across all the cars, they closed the ferryboat down for the night.

See also: across, ferry

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.