Various transports (not to scale)
Generally, a transport was a starship designed for the movement of cargo or passengers, although the term could apply to other vehicles fulfilling the same purpose.
Transports exhibited a wide range of sizes, from smaller light freighters such as the YT-1300 from Corellian Engineering Corporation to enormous vessels capable of holding thousands of tons of goods, and even possessing docking bays for smaller transports.
Typically, transports like freighters and passenger liners were not built for combat situations, often lacking armaments and being relatively slow. However, their design allowed for simple modifications into effective combat vehicles, a practice favored by pirates and smugglers. Military groups also modified transports to carry troops and provide battlefield support. The Imperial Navy utilized the Sentinel-class landing craft from Cygnus Spaceworks to quickly deploy personnel to planets. The Death Watch Mandalorians made use of Gauntlet fighters to ferry their troopers and provide combat assistance.
An example of a non-spacefaring transport is the Gungan bongo submarine, a submersible vehicle used by the Gungans of Naboo.