cay

[ key, kee ]
See synonyms for cay on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a small low island; key.

Origin of cay

1
1700–10; <Spanish cayo;see key2

Words that may be confused with cay

Words Nearby cay

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cay in a sentence

  • They had been, I could plainly observe, kept orderly and free of dust, against cay home-coming.

    Tramping on Life | Harry Kemp
  • We made it hot, and so they marooned us: me on a dry Tortuga cay, and him in an oarless boat.

  • Sometimes it was from a Coaster, which had found a waterless Bahama cay littered with sun-dried bodies.

  • Mebbe the women-folks will feel better fort; but you cay—nt do it.

    A Singular Life | Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
  • Actually, it is believed, they were after something on North cay.

    Pieces of Eight | Richard le Gallienne

British Dictionary definitions for cay

cay

/ (keɪ, kiː) /


noun
  1. a small low island or bank composed of sand and coral fragments, esp in the Caribbean area: Also called: key

Origin of cay

1
C18: from Spanish cayo, probably from Old French quai quay

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for cay

cay

[ kē, kā ]


  1. A small, low island composed largely of coral or sand. Also called key

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.