DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
Wharf n.; pl. Wharfs or Wharves
1. A structure or platform of timber, masonry, iron, earth, or other material, built on the shore of a harbor, river, canal, or the like, and usually extending from the shore to deep water, so that vessels may lie close alongside to receive and discharge cargo, passengers, etc.; a quay; a pier.
Commerce pushes its wharves into the sea. --Bancroft.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and burgher, lord and dame. --Tennyson.
Note: ☞ The plural of this word is generally written wharves in the United States, and wharfs in England; but many recent English writers use wharves.
2. The bank of a river, or the shore of the sea. [Obs.] “The fat weed that roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf.”
Wharf boat, a kind of boat moored at the bank of a river, and used for a wharf, in places where the height of the water is so variable that a fixed wharf would be useless. [U. S.] --Bartlett.
Wharf rat. Zool. (a) The common brown rat. (b) A neglected boy who lives around the wharfs. [Slang]
wharf
n : a platform built out from the shore into the water and
supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats
[syn: pier, wharfage, dock]
v 1: provide with a wharf; "Wharf the mouth of the river"
2: store on a wharf; "Wharf the merchandise"
3: discharge at a wharf; "wharf the passengers"
4: come into or dock at a wharf; "the big ship wharfed in the
evening" [syn: moor, berth]
5: moor at a wharf; "The ship was wharfed"
[also: wharves (pl)]