Berth n.  [Also written birth.]
 1. Naut. (a) Convenient sea room. (b) A room in which a number of the officers or ship's company mess and reside. (c) The place where a ship lies when she is at anchor, or at a wharf.
 2. An allotted place; an appointment; situation or employment. “He has a good berth.”
 3. A place in a ship to sleep in; a long box or shelf on the side of a cabin or stateroom, or of a railway car, for sleeping in.
 Berth deck, the deck next below the lower gun deck. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
 To give (the land or any object) a wide berth, to keep at a distance from it.