wharf
Americannoun
-
wharves,
plural
-
wharfs
plural
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)
noun
-
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
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the working area of a dock
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an obsolete word for shore 1
verb
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to moor or dock at a wharf
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to provide or equip with a wharf or wharves
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to store or unload on a wharf
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of wharf
before 1050; Middle English (noun); Old English hwearf embankment; cognate with Middle Low German warf; akin to German Werf pier
Explanation
A wharf is a platform built on the shore that extends over the surface of the water. On the wharf, you saw people preparing to set sail. A wharf provides access for ships and boats, that can pull up and dock alongside it. In fact, wharfs are also called docks or piers. Wharfs are made of wood and act like sidewalks, making it easy to people, cargo and supplies to enter and leave a boat. As a verb, wharf means "to moor," or tie the boat to the wharf and drop an anchor, or "to be given a place at the wharf."
Vocabulary lists containing wharf
Seas The Day: Words That Shore Are Beachy
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100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
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"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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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.
See Examples For:
City hall, the slave market, and town pillory were all there, and the wharf on the East River “made it a rendezvous for pirates,” writes Sobol.
From Barron's ● Mar. 1, 2026
They also tried to resuscitate the boy as the boat made its way to an ambulance waiting by a wharf.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026
The crew blow-torched the fasteners and released the cables that held the crane to the ship, while workers on land laid temporary rails across the wharf.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
But at the end of the city-owned wharf, hanging on a flimsy metal fence, are small warning signs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2025
A small bright light had arisen in the sky to the north and appeared to be drifting along the lakeshore toward the wharf.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Boats can dock at wharfs, quays and piers protected by the reef's natural lagoon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2025
Mikkelsen said the port is planning upgrades to wharfs and access roads, improved on-site utilities, and dredging and environmental restoration, among other efforts to accommodate the wind equipment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2025
A major fire is still raging at the site and pictures show huge, billowing black clouds over the wharfs.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2025
The area used to be home to industrial wharfs and depots but is now unrecognizable with dozens of high-rise luxury apartment buildings.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 14, 2022
Docked at the North End waterfront, it was a fireboat, ready to spray tons of ocean water on the many fires that often took place on the wharfs that extended out into the harbor.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
The port, with the help of federal and provincial funds, is spending 609 million Canadian dollars dredging the river and building new wharves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
It was a place transformed, with railroads and wharves running at capacity.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2025
A neighborhood near the wharves is still known as the Irish Channel.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
The project is part of the Vanuatu Inter-Island Shipping Support Project, which has among a number of projects, has completed two wharves.
From Reuters ● Nov. 23, 2022
The heavy air was thickening into mist, and by the time they tied up at the wharves alongside the Smokemarket everything in sight was softened and blurred.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
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.
