wharf

[ wawrf, hwawrf ]

noun

, plural wharves [wawrvz, hwawrvz], wharfs.

1. 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.
2. Obsolete.
   1. a riverbank.
   2. the shore of the sea.

verb (used with object)

1. to provide with a wharf or wharves.
2. to place or store on a wharf:

   The schedule allowed little time to wharf the cargo.

3. to accommodate at or bring to a wharf:

   The new structure will wharf several vessels.

verb (used without object)

1. to tie up at a wharf; dock:

   The ship wharfed in the early morning.

wharf

/ wɔːf /

noun

1. 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
2. the wharves
   the wharves the working area of a dock
3. See shore
   an obsolete word for shore 1

verb

1. to moor or dock at a wharf
2. to provide or equip with a wharf or wharves
3. to store or unload on a wharf

Word History and Origins

Origin of wharf¹

before 1050; Middle English (noun); Old English hwearf embankment; cognate with Middle Low German warf; akin to German Werf pier

Word History and Origins

Origin of wharf¹

Old English hwearf heap; related to Old Saxon hwarf, Old High German hwarb a turn, Old Norse hvarf circle

Example Sentences

Phase 1 of The Wharf opened in 2017, with more than two million square feet of residences, offices, hotels, shops, restaurants, and a marina.

From Washington Blade

There were no trees in sight at the wharf to offer any shade.

From Washington Post

With more money, the port could have expanded channels, fortified wharves and improved road and rail links, he said.

From Washington Post

The Wharf is continuing its pop-up movie series on Transit Pier with holiday movies this weekend.

From Washington Blade

Chiefs of the Mi’kmaq Grand Council join members of the Sipekne’katik First Nation on the wharf in Saulnierville, Nova Scotia, to bless the fleet before it launches a self-regulated fishery.

From Ozy

Then bed down in the seaside town of Mystic, Connecticut, with views of the wharf from your private room at the Steamboat Inn.

From The Daily Beast

Sex is no less grotesque; during the act he hears “the wave-against-a-wharf smack of rubber on flesh.”

From The Daily Beast

Afterward, stumble out into North Beach and walk it off on a stroll down to the Wharf.

From The Daily Beast

And when I say East London, I mean Shoreditch—those of you expecting sterile Canary Wharf, think again.

From The Daily Beast

When there was a big concert, the whole wharf and Main Street became transformed.

From The Daily Beast

She had just left the wharf at Cincinnati for Louisville, with 225 passengers on board, of whom but 124 were saved.

From Project Gutenberg

Dick was at the wharf, one day last week, when one of the up river boats arrived.

From Project Gutenberg

Robert uttered a shrill, piercing whistle which might have been heard back at the wharf.

From Project Gutenberg

The lovers, who had laid their plans the night before, were already strolling toward the wharf.

From Project Gutenberg

In both cases the riparian owner, so-called, may erect a wharf extending from his land subject to public control.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• berth
• dock
• jetty
• levee
• pier