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Webster 1913 Edition

Wharf

Wharf

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Wharfs
(#)
or
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.
hwaírban
,
hwarbōn
, 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.
☞ 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
.
(Zool.)
(a)
The common brown rat.
(b)
A neglected boy who lives around the wharfs.
[Slang]

Wharf

,
Verb.
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Wharf

WHARF

,
Noun.
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

,
Verb.
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.

Definition 2025

wharf

wharf

English

Noun

wharf ‎(plural wharves or wharfs)

  1. A man-made landing place for ships on a shore or river bank.
    • Bancroft
      Commerce pushes its wharves into the sea.
    • Tennyson
      Out upon the wharfs they came, / Knight and burgher, lord and dame.
  2. The bank of a river, or the shore of the sea.
    • Shakespeare
      the fat weed that roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf

Synonyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old English hwearf ‎(“heap, embankment, wharf”); related to Old English hweorfan ‎(“to turn”), Old Saxon hwarf, Dutch werf, Old High German hwarb ‎(“a turn”), hwerban ‎(“to turn”), Old Norse hvarf ‎(“circle”), Greek καρπός ‎(karpós, “wrist”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʍɔː(ɹ)f/
  • (in accents with the wine-whine merger) enPR: wô(r)f, IPA(key): /wɔː(ɹ)f/
  • Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)f

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