wharves

[hwawrvz, wawrvz]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wharves ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a plural of wharf.

wharf

[hwawrf, wawrf]

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.

Origin of wharf

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

Can be confuseddock harbor pier wharf

wharve

[hwawrv, wawrv]

noun

Spinning. a wheel or round piece of wood on a spindle, serving as a flywheel or as a pulley.

Origin of wharve

before 1000; Middle English wherve, Old English hweorfa; derivative of hwerfan to revolve

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for wharves

dock, berth, pier, jetty, levee, breakwater, quay, slip, landing

Examples from the Web for wharves

Historical Examples of wharves

And drawing lazily on his cigar Dillon was watching a new line of wharves.
The Harbor
Ernest Poole
The cabman druv 'im to somewhere on South Street, by the wharves.
The Mystery of Murray Davenport
Robert Neilson Stephens
Most of this is now a thing of the past and the dredges lie rotting at the wharves.
The Negro Farmer
Carl Kelsey
He had been down to the wharves since early in the morning, seeking for employment.
The Cash Boy
Horatio Alger Jr.
Think of the great wide flowing river with its wharves and its boats.
Where We Live
Emilie Van Beil Jacobs

British Dictionary definitions for wharves

wharf

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

wharve

noun

a wooden disc or wheel on a shaft serving as a flywheel or pulley

Word Origin for wharve

Old English hweorfa, from hweorfan to revolve; related to Old Saxon hwervo axis, Old High German hwerbo a turn

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

Word Origin and History for wharves

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.