: the cubical content of a merchant ship in units of 100 cubic feet
b
: the displacement of a warship
2
a
: total weight in tons shipped, carried, or produced
b
: impressively large amount or weight
3
: a duty formerly levied on every tun of wine imported into England
4
a
: a duty or impost on vessels based on cargo capacity
b
: a duty on goods per ton transported
5
: ships in terms of the total number of tons registered or carried or of their carrying capacity
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebAround half of the global container fleet and 90% of the world’s largest ships by tonnage crossed the Taiwan Strait last year. Joyu Wang, WSJ, 6 Aug. 2022 The reason for using value rather than tonnage data is two-fold. Ken Roberts, Forbes, 30 June 2022 As the vessel’s tonnage impacts energy efficiency, the materials used throughout are purposefully lightweight. Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 2 June 2022 While tonnage varies each year, the shipping route averaged 38.17 million tons a year from 2015 to 2019, the five years before the pandemic. Sean Mcdonnell, cleveland, 24 May 2022 The American group was heavily outnumbered by ship tonnage and firepower. Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 28 June 2022 The 53's chassis does a fine job of handling both its power and considerable tonnage. Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 5 July 2022 Last year, bulk carriers flagged to Sierra Leone carried three times the tonnage of those flying American flags. Drew Hinshaw, WSJ, 10 Dec. 2021 If even a fraction of consumers adopted this practice, their participation could dramatically reduce the tonnage of e-waste generated every year. Serenity Gibbons, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2021 See More
Word History
Etymology
in sense 3, from Middle English, from Anglo-French, from tonne tun; in other senses, from ton entry 1 — more at tunnel