wherry

American  

[hwer-ee, wer-ee] / ˈʰwɛr i, ˈwɛr i /

noun

• wherries
  plural

1. a light rowboat for one person; skiff.

2. any of various barges, fishing vessels, etc., used locally in England.

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verb (used with or without object)

wherried, wherrying

1. to use, or transport in, a wherry.

wherry British  

/ ˈwɛrɪ /

noun

1. any of certain kinds of half-decked commercial boats, such as barges, used in Britain

2. a light rowing boat used in inland waters and harbours

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• wherryman
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wherries
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of wherry

1400–50; late Middle English whery < ?

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wherry wherries wherrying

The Canaries’ next play Brighton and Watford and improved performances and results will be needed if this Norfolk project isn’t to take on the appearance of a wherry holed beneath the waterline.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 28, 2019

Tommy arrived early on the scene, deck-laden with cargo of Blue Books and Reports; sufficient in weight and bulk to sink a less trim-built wherry.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 105, September 9, 1893 by Various

We have said that the wherry is obsolete.

From Boating by W. B. Woodgate

At the end of the summer term in his last year Elmore was invited by a schoolboy friend named Austin to spend part of the holidays with him in a wherry on the Broads.

From A Master of Deception by Richard Marsh

And followed by Guy Fawkes, he hurried to the river side, where a wherry was moored.

From Guy Fawkes or The Gunpowder Treason by William Harrison Ainsworth

Before lorries became the preferred mode of transportation, wherries - large sailing boats used in the Broads - would have transported goods to and from the factory.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Through black smoke and swirling green fire, Davos glimpsed a swarm of small, boats bearing downriver: a confusion of ferries and wherries, barges, skiffs, rowboats, and hulks that looked too rotten to float.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

There are always numbers of wherries leaving Norwich and Yarmouth, and if you hail the one you fancy, you will be readily taken on board. 

From The Handbook to the Rivers and Broads of Norfolk & Suffolk by G. Christopher Davies

Its build was outlandish; so unlike the wherries that were by, yet so like the craft that swim in the turbid Yang Tse.

From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Samuel Adams Drake

A neighboring regatta had carried off, the fleet of yachts that had their moorings there, and the harbor was dotted with fishing-boats, pilot-boats, ocean steamers, steam tugs, wherries, and such craft.

From The Return of the Prodigal by May Sinclair

"My darling child," said she, hugging and kissing her just as tenderly as if she had never been "wherrying."

From Dotty Dimple At Home by Sophie May

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