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quay

[kee, key, kwey]

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noun

a landing place, especially one of solid masonry, constructed along the edge of a body of water; wharf.

Origin:
1690–1700; spelling variant (after French quai) of earlier kay (also key, whence the modern pronunciation) < Old French kay, cay; akin to Spanish cayo shoal. See key²

Related forms

quay·like, adjective

Can be confused: cay, key, quay.

Synonyms
pier, dock, landing, levee.

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Quay is always a great word to know.

So is ort. Does it mean:

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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Example Sentences

There was no sign of rock stars on the quay on this cold evening.

Another irresistible temptation was a mysterious cafe at the end of the quay.

We picked up weights and tanks from the hotel dive shop and did a test dive off the quay.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

Matthew Stanley, 1833–1904, U.S. politician: senator 1887–99, 1901–4.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To quay

Collins

World English Dictionary

quay (kiː)

—n
	Compare pier a wharf, typically one built parallel to the shoreline

[C14 keye, from Old French kai, of Celtic origin; compare Cornish kē hedge, fence, Old Breton cai fence]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

quay

1696, variant of M.E. key "wharf" (1306), from O.N.Fr. cai (O.Fr. chai) "sand bank," from Gaulish caium (5c.), from O.Celt. *kagio- "to encompass, enclose" (cf. Welsh cae "fence, hedge," Cornish ke "hedge"), cognate with O.E. haga "hedge" (see hedge). Spelling altered by infl.

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of Fr. quai, from the same Celtic source.

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Related Words

quayside bund check line initial

initial levee Quai d'Orsay

Matching Quote

"Who wants always to look at a cafe or an altar or an oak tree with the first innocence and the limited understanding of a naive lovesick girl, or a born-again Byron? Five minutes or five centuries from now, we will see changeless realities with new eyes, and the sounds of sheep bleating and a new child's wail will be the same but heard through new ears. How can we pretend to be changeless, then?... Is it wrong to see the phony, painted mushroom-bollard on the quay and accept it, as part of the whole strong song that keeps on singing there, in spite of wars and movies and the turtling-on of time?"

-M.F.K. Fisher

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