ford

noun

\ˈfȯrd

Definition of ford

(Entry 1 of 7)

: a shallow part of a body of water that may be crossed by wading

ford

verb

forded; fording; fords

Definition of ford (Entry 2 of 7)

transitive verb

: to cross (a body of water) by wading

Ford

biographical name (1)

\ˈfȯrd

Definition of Ford (Entry 3 of 7)

Ford Mad*ox \ˈma-dəks \ 1873–1939 originally Ford Hermann Hueffer \ˈhü-fər; ˈhwe-fər, ˈwe-\ English author

Ford

biographical name (2)

Definition of Ford (Entry 4 of 7)

Gerald R(udolph) 1913–2006 American politician; 38th president of the U.S. (1974–77)

Ford

biographical name (3)

Definition of Ford (Entry 5 of 7)

Henry 1863–1947 American automobile manufacturer

Ford

biographical name (4)

Definition of Ford (Entry 6 of 7)

John 1586–?1639 English dramatist

Ford

biographical name (5)

Definition of Ford (Entry 7 of 7)

John 1895–1973 originally John Martin Feeney American film director

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Examples of ford in a Sentence

Noun

didn't attempt getting the horses across the stream until we had reached the ford

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Police also found $6,801 in cash and seized a 2013 ford Focus. — Felicia Gans, BostonGlobe.com, "13 arrested in Boston drug raids," 3 July 2018 Elmsford adopted its current name around 1870, in recognition of a large elm tree that stood near a ford across the river, used as a landmark by George Washington during the Revolutionary War. — Susan Hodara, New York Times, "Elmsford, N.Y.: A Quiet Village Surrounded by Highways and Commerce," 21 Feb. 2018 The motorist, in a blue ford SUV, drove off the residential street and across a shallow ditch toward the front of a house in the 3000 block of Melbourne, according to police. — Alyson Ward, Houston Chronicle, "Driver crashes into northeast Houston yard," 21 Jan. 2018 There's another freeway on-ramp pooled in water too deep to ford. — Matt Pearce, latimes.com, "On the road in Texas, where all the roads look like rivers," 29 Aug. 2017 Fords with the optional diesel still beat the Ram’s tow rating with a gooseneck or conventional hitch, with the Super Duty’s 32,500- and 21,000-pound tow figures just besting the Ram’s 31,210- and 20,000-pound ratings. — Greg Fink, Car and Driver, "More Tug-Worthy 2018 Ram 3500HD Boasts 930 LB-FT of Torque," 11 Aug. 2017 Fords are popular models for people looking to buy in Atlanta; usually, F-150 pick-ups, Flex SUVs and Fusion and Focus sedans are frequent searches. — cleveland.com, "Cleveland named in the top 10 U.S. cities to buy a used car for cheap: See the list," 9 Aug. 2017 Newer Fords fit more tire; square Chevy fenders are less generous. — Morgan Kane, Popular Mechanics, "How to Make Your Own Monster Truck," 2 Aug. 2017 Red Hen Press: An Evening of Poetry and Performance With Brendan Constantine and t’ai freedom ford. — Matt Cooper, latimes.com, "The week ahead in L.A. theater, July 9-16: 'King of the Yees' and more," 9 July 2017

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Witnesses said the militants, all of whom were masked and wearing army uniforms, sneaked into the village after Tuesday evening prayers, apparently by fording a nearby river. — Margaret Coker And Falih Hassan, New York Times, "These Iraqi Farmers Said No to ISIS. When Night Came They Paid the Price.," 2 May 2018 But after fording fast rivers, trekking through forest and braving mountain roads, the journalist found him. — The Economist, "Obituary: Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, the first cardinal from Central America," 23 June 2018 The day before was a much more extreme test, requiring us to leave the road behind altogether, including negotiating some extremely steep grades plus ford a stream. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, "Forget about that Tesla—the Jaguar I-Pace is the most compelling EV yet," 14 June 2018 Will the misdirected Håkan ford the Mississippi and pass Huck Finn lighting out the other way? — Lawrence Downes, New York Times, "A Debut Novel. A Tiny Press. A Pulitzer Finalist.," 2 May 2018 Along the way, as any one-time player well knows, a variety of challenges present themselves, from hunting for food to fording rivers and avoiding diseases. — Sophie Weiner, Popular Mechanics, "Learn the Surprising History of 'Oregon Trail' in a Five Minute Mini-Doc," 3 Mar. 2017 But flooding at the frequency NOAA predicts would double, triple and eventually exponentially increase the amount of puddles residents must ford per year. — Alex Harris, miamiherald, "Miami streets could flood every single day by 2070 under many climate models, NOAA says | Miami Herald," 30 Mar. 2018 Two days before Christmas, Grimes forded a river in the middle of the night, even as another American airman walking behind him lost his footing and drowned. — Matt Schudel, Washington Post, "Micheline Dumont-Ugeux, daring Belgian resistance fighter in WWII, dies at 96," 17 Dec. 2017 As a legendary off-road vehicle known for its ability to ford streams and standing water, Range Rover Velar has a ground clearance of 9.9 inches and a wading depth of 25.6 inches. — Emma Jayne Williams, star-telegram, "Range Rover rolls out new Velar model for 2018 | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 7 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ford.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.