tonnage

noun

ton·nage | \ ˈtə-nij

Definition of tonnage

1a : the cubical content of a merchant ship in units of 100 cubic feet

b : the displacement of a warship

2a : 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

4a : 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

Examples of tonnage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

China already has a monohull frigate class, the Type 054A Jiangkai II. While the Type 054As are fifty percent larger in tonnage than the new trimaran design, the assembly line is already up and running having already produced 23 of the frigates. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "China's New Frigate Design Looks Awfully Familiar," 23 Feb. 2017 In terms of gross tonnage the number is down by a quarter. — Costas Paris, WSJ, "Germany’s Commercial Shipping Fleet Shrinks by a Third," 23 Sep. 2018 The sturgeon held on, but the annual global tonnage of legal wild caviar shrank into the single digits. — David Samuels, Town & Country, "One Bad Egg," 18 Oct. 2013 In capitals from Tokyo to London, war at sea was a numbers game: Construction schedules, losses and ship tonnage determined where and when the belligerents would strike. — Jonathan W. Jordan, WSJ, "‘World War II at Sea’ Review: A History Written in Water," 18 May 2018 The internal debate centered on the tonnage of such coverage, conduct on social media and whether ESPN as a company should take political stances. — Shalini Ramachandran, WSJ, "How a Weakened ESPN Became Consumed by Politics," 24 May 2018 The internal debate centered on the tonnage of such coverage, conduct on social media and whether ESPN as a company should take political stances. — Shalini Ramachandran, WSJ, "How a Weakened ESPN Became Consumed by Politics," 24 May 2018 Truck tonnage was up 9.5% in April compared with the same month in 2017, according to the American Trucking Associations, an industry group. — Jennifer Smith, WSJ, "Trucker U.S. Xpress Makes Second Public Debut," 14 June 2018 The port's total tonnage grew from 35.9 million in 2013 to 38.3 million in 2017. — Dana Burke, Houston Chronicle, "Historical photos of the Houston Ship Channel through the 1950s," 12 June 2018

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