wherry
Americannoun
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wherries
plural
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a light rowboat for one person; skiff.
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any of various barges, fishing vessels, etc., used locally in England.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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any of certain kinds of half-decked commercial boats, such as barges, used in Britain
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a light rowing boat used in inland waters and harbours
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of wherry
1400–50; late Middle English whery < ?
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:
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
They visited the source of the Thames, making the voyage in a wherry from Windsor to Cricklade.
From The Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Volume I (of 2) by Florence A. Thomas Marshall
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
A wherry was unmoored: guided by my voice, they soon reached us; and but a brief interval elapsed before we were safely housed in an adjoining tavern.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol III, No 13, 1851 by Various
The wherry was there, swinging loosely and idly on its chain.
From The Maid of Honour (Vol. 3 of 3) A Tale of the Dark Days of France by Lewis Wingfield
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
Here is a place made wide to admit of wherries passing, and we can hold on here until she gets by.
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
Very many of these wherries have been converted into sailing house boats or pleasure barges, and so constitute most admirable floating homes for those who like cruising with greater comfort than small yachts can give.
From The Handbook to the Rivers and Broads of Norfolk & Suffolk by G. Christopher Davies
"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
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.
