undock
/'ʌn'dɔk/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb (transitive):
- To move a ship or boat away from a dock; to take a vessel out of a dock.
- Verb (intransitive):
- For a ship or boat to move away from a dock; to leave a dock.
Usage
- Transitive verb: The action is performed on the ship. The subject is the person or crew causing the movement.
- Intransitive verb: The action is performed by the ship itself. The subject is the ship.
Examples
- Transitive use:
- The captain will undock the ship at high tide.
- Please undock the boat carefully.
- Intransitive use:
- The ferry is scheduled to undock at 14:00.
- We watched the cruise liner undock from the harbor.
Advanced Usage
- Computing Context: In computing, "undock" can mean to disconnect a portable device (like a laptop) from a docking station. This is a metaphorical extension of the original nautical term.
- Remember to undock your laptop before walking away with it.
- Space Context: Used to describe the separation of one spacecraft module from another.
- The shuttle will undock from the space station tomorrow.
Variants and Related Words
- Dock (verb): The direct opposite action; to bring or come into a dock.
- The ship will dock in Singapore.
- Undocking (noun): The process or instance of undocking.
- The undocking was delayed due to weather.
- Moor (verb): To secure a boat with ropes or anchors, not necessarily at a dedicated dock.
- Cast off (phrasal verb): To untie a boat and begin a journey; a synonym in specific contexts.
Synonyms
- Cast off
- Set sail (implies beginning a voyage)
- Leave port
- Pull out (informal)
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Cast off: To release the ropes securing a boat to the shore or dock, allowing it to depart.
- The crew cast off the lines, and the boat began to drift away.
- Pull away (from): To move a vehicle (including a ship) away from a place.
- The tugboat helped the large ship pull away from the dock.
Related Idioms
- To slip one's moorings: To become detached or to leave a mooring place, sometimes unexpectedly. This can be used similarly to "undock" in a figurative sense.
- After the storm, several boats had slipped their moorings.
Verb
- take (a ship) out of a dock
- undock the ship
- move out of a dock
- We docked at noon