berth
Americannoun
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a shelflike sleeping space, as on a ship, airplane, or railroad car.
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Nautical.
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the space allotted to a vessel at anchor or at a wharf.
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the distance maintained between a vessel and the shore, another vessel, or any object.
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the position or rank of a ship's officer.
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the cabin of a ship's officer.
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a job; position.
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a place, listing, or role.
She clinched a berth on our tennis team.
verb (used with object)
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Nautical.
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to allot to (a vessel) a certain space at which to anchor or tie up.
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to bring to or install in a berth, anchorage, or moorage.
The captain had to berth the ship without the aid of tugboats.
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to provide with a sleeping space, as on a train.
verb (used without object)
idioms
noun
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a bed or bunk in a vessel or train, usually narrow and fixed to a wall
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nautical a place assigned to a ship at a mooring
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nautical sufficient distance from the shore or from other ships or objects for a ship to manoeuvre
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to keep clear of; avoid
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nautical accommodation on a ship
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informal a job, esp as a member of a ship's crew
verb
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(tr) nautical to assign a berth to (a vessel)
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nautical to dock (a vessel)
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(tr) to provide with a sleeping place, as on a vessel or train
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(intr) nautical to pick up a mooring in an anchorage
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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berthsimple
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berthssimple
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have berthedperfect
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has berthedperfect
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am berthingprogressive
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are berthingprogressive
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is berthingprogressive
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have been berthingperfect progressive
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has been berthingperfect progressive
Past
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berthedsimple
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had berthedperfect
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was berthingprogressive
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were berthingprogressive
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had been berthingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of berth
First recorded in 1615–25; probably equivalent to bear 1 + -th 1
Explanation
A berth is a bed, usually stacked like bunk beds, on a train or a ship. If you're on an overnight train, you may want to spring for a berth instead of sitting up all night. You may have heard the phrase "to give someone a wide berth" — that means to give them plenty of space. But if you want to use berth as a verb, you better be talking about parking a boat: to berth means to moor or dock a ship. The parking spot itself also happens to be called a berth. So if there's a big storm brewing, you best be sure to berth your boat securely in its berth.
Vocabulary lists containing berth
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 14–18
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Less Common Five-letter Words for Wordle
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“In my practice in state court, I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of the granting a change of venue motion,” said Berth Merkin, who teaches criminal justice at the University of New Haven.
From Washington Times • Apr. 3, 2023
The company is hoping to build the seafood haven on property about a mile and a half north from its current location at Berth 93.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2023
On Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941, the twins, then 20, were among the 1,300 sailors and Marines aboard the Oklahoma, which was moored beside another battleship, the USS Maryland, at Berth F-5, in Pearl Harbor.
From Washington Post • Dec. 5, 2021
Celebrity Cruises’ ship named Infinity smashed into Ketchikan’s Berth 3 in June 2016.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 13, 2017
It might have been that old man Berth was his stepfather.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 3 by Work Projects Administration
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
