slipway

IPA/ˈslɪpweɪ/
IPA/ˈslɪpweɪ/

slipway — noun

  • slipwaysingular
  • slipwaysplural

1. a long, sloping hard surface that goes from the shore down into the water, used

1.nounB2
Definition

a long, sloping hard surface that goes from the shore down into the water, used for moving boats or ships into the water or pulling them out onto land for repairs or storage.

Example

Each autumn the fishermen pull their boats up the slipway for winter storage.

pull [boat] up a slipway

Diego watched the new yacht slide down the concrete slipway into the harbour.

launch [vessel] from a slipway

Common collocations
  • build a slipway
  • repair a slipway
  • pull a boat up a slipway
  • launch from a slipway
  • grease a slipway
  • concrete slipway
  • wooden slipway
Synonyms
  • boat ramp

    a simpler, everyday term for a slipway used by small boats; less formal

  • launching ramp

    emphasises the launching function; common in recreational boating

Grammar Patterns

a slipway (for [boats/ships])

pull/drag [boat] up a slipway

launch [boat] from a slipway

Usage Note

Often used in the context of boat-building yards, fishing harbours, and lifeboat stations. A slipway is different from a dry dock — it is a ramp, not an enclosed chamber.

Common Mistakes

The ship was repaired in a slipway.
The ship was repaired on a slipway.
a slipway is a surface/ramp, not an enclosed space; boats are pulled up onto it, not put inside it.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A slipway is a sloped surface (often concrete or wood) built specifically for moving boats into or out of the water — either for launching or for repair access. A boat ramp is a simpler, less formal term for the same thing, usually found at small lakes or rivers where recreational boaters back their trailers into the water. A dry dock is a completely different structure: it is an enclosed basin that can be drained of water so the entire hull of a ship can be worked on below the waterline. A jetty or wharf is a flat platform beside the water for loading and unloading, not for launching. For example: 'We launched the kayak off the boat ramp at the lake,' but 'The fishing trawler was hauled up the slipway for its annual inspection.'

slipway ↗boat rampdry dockjetty ↗wharf ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • concrete slipway
  • wooden slipway
  • boat slipway
  • lifeboat slipway
  • fishing slipway

Phrases

  • pull a boat up a slipway
  • launch from a slipway
  • build a slipway
  • repair a slipway

Prepositions

  • up a slipway
  • down a slipway
  • on a slipway
  • from a slipway

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Combines 'slip' (from Old English slippan, meaning to glide or slide) and 'way' (from Old English weg, meaning a path or road). The word emerged in the 1700s in shipbuilding contexts to describe the sloping path along which a ship slides ('slips') into the water at launch.

First known use

1840

1840, in the meaning defined above