wharf
[ hwawrf, wawrf ]
/ ʰwɔrf, wɔrf /
noun, plural wharves [hwawrvz, wawrvz] /ʰwɔrvz, wɔrvz/, wharfs.
a structure built on the shore of or projecting into a harbor, stream, etc., so that vessels may be moored alongside to load or unload or to lie at rest; quay; pier.
Obsolete.
- a riverbank.
- the shore of the sea.
verb (used with object)
to provide with a wharf or wharves.
to place or store on a wharf: The schedule allowed little time to wharf the cargo.
to accommodate at or bring to a wharf: The new structure will wharf several vessels.
verb (used without object)
to tie up at a wharf; dock: The ship wharfed in the early morning.
Nearby words
- whapping,
- whare,
- whare wananga,
- wharenui,
- wharepuni,
- wharf rat,
- wharf shed,
- wharfage,
- wharfie,
- wharfinger
Origin of wharf
before 1050; Middle English (noun); Old English hwearf embankment; cognate with Middle Low German warf; akin to German Werf pier
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for wharf
wharf
/ (wɔːf) /
noun plural wharves (wɔːvz) or wharfs
a platform of timber, stone, concrete, etc, built parallel to the waterfront at a harbour or navigable river for the docking, loading, and unloading of ships
the wharves NZ the working area of a dock
an obsolete word for shore 1
verb (tr)
to moor or dock at a wharf
to provide or equip with a wharf or wharves
to store or unload on a wharf
Word Origin for wharf
Old English hwearf heap; related to Old Saxon hwarf, Old High German hwarb a turn, Old Norse hvarf circle
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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wharf
late Old English hwearf "shore, bank where ships can tie up," earlier "dam, embankment," from Proto-Germanic *khwarfaz (cf. Middle Low German werf "mole, dam, wharf," German Werft "shipyard, dockyard"); related to Old English hwearfian "to turn," perhaps in a sense implying "busy activity," from PIE root *kwerp- "to turn, revolve" (cf. Old Norse hverfa "to turn round," German werben "to enlist, solicit, court, woo," Gothic hvairban "to wander," Greek kartos "wrist," Sanskrit surpam "winnowing fan"). Wharf rat "person who hangs around docks" is recorded from 1836.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper