Adjacent Words

Wharf definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WHARF, n. A perpendicular bank or mound or timber or stone and earth, raised on the shore of a harbor, or extending some distance into the water, for the convenience of lading and unlading ships and other vessels. This name is also given to the wider part of a canal, where boats lie while loading and unloading. The two longest wharfs in New England are at Boston and at New Haven. The latter is much the longest, extending into the harbor about three quarter of a mile.
WHARF, v.t. To guard or secure by a wharf or firm wall of timber or stone; as, the western bank of the Connecticut is wharfed at Hartford, to prevent the river from wearing away the land.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats [syn: pier, wharf, wharfage, dock] v
1: provide with a wharf; "Wharf the mouth of the river"
2: store on a wharf; "Wharf the merchandise"
3: discharge at a wharf; "wharf the passengers"
4: come into or dock at a wharf; "the big ship wharfed in the evening" [syn: moor, berth, wharf]
5: moor at a wharf; "The ship was wharfed"

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural wharves; also wharfs) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hwearf embankment, wharf; akin to Old English hweorfan to turn, Old High German hwerban, Greek karpos wrist Date: before 12th century 1. a structure built along or at an angle from the shore of navigable waters so that ships may lie alongside to receive and discharge cargo and passengers 2. obsolete the bank of a river or the shore of the sea

U.S. Military Dictionary

A structure built of open rather than solid construction along a shore or a bank that provides cargo-handling facilities. A similar facility of solid construction is called a quay. See also quay. (JP 4-01.5)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. (pl. wharves or wharfs) a level quayside area to which a ship may be moved to load and unload. --v.tr. 1 moor (a ship) at a wharf. 2 store (goods) on a wharf. Etymology: OE hwearf

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wharf Wharf, n.; pl. Wharfsor Wharves. [AS. hwerf, hwearf, a returning, a change, from hweorfan to turn, turn about, go about; akin to D. werf a wharf, G. werft, Sw. varf a shipbuilder's yard, Dan. verft wharf, dockyard, G. werben to enlist, to engage, woo, OHG. werban to turn about, go about, be active or occupied, Icel. hverfa to turn, Goth. hwa['i]rban, hwarb[=o]n, to walk. Cf. Whirl.] 1. A structure or platform of timber, masonry, iron, earth, or other material, built on the shore of a harbor, river, canal, or the like, and usually extending from the shore to deep water, so that vessels may lie close alongside to receive and discharge cargo, passengers, etc.; a quay; a pier. Commerce pushes its wharves into the sea. --Bancroft. Out upon the wharfs they came, Knight and burgher, lord and dame. --Tennyson. Note: The plural of this word is generally written wharves in the United States, and wharfs in England; but many recent English writers use wharves. 2. [AS. hwearf.] The bank of a river, or the shore of the sea. [Obs.] ``The fat weed that roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf.'' --Shak. Wharf boat, a kind of boat moored at the bank of a river, and used for a wharf, in places where the height of the water is so variable that a fixed wharf would be useless. [U. S.] --Bartlett. Wharf rat. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The common brown rat. (b) A neglected boy who lives around the wharfs. [Slang]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wharf Wharf, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wharfed; p. pr. & vb. n. Wharfing.] 1. To guard or secure by a firm wall of timber or stone constructed like a wharf; to furnish with a wharf or wharfs. 2. To place upon a wharf; to bring to a wharf.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(wharves, or wharfs) A wharf is a platform by a river or the sea where ships can be tied up. = jetty, quay N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Quay.

Moby Thesaurus

anchorage, anchorage ground, basin, berth, breakwater, bulkhead, dock, dockage, dockyard, dry dock, embankment, groin, harbor, harborage, haven, jetty, jutty, landing, landing place, landing stage, levee, marina, mole, moorings, pier, port, protected anchorage, quay, road, roads, roadstead, seaport, seawall, shipyard, slip