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wharf

 - 3 dictionary results
As easy as a dock gets
You alone, can install & remove our patented pier, guaranteed. Stay dry
www.pierofdnort.com

wharf

  [hwawrf, wawrf] noun, plural wharves  [hwawrvz, wawrvz] , wharfs, verb
Use wharf in a Sentence
–noun
1. a structure built on the shore of or projecting into a harbor, stream, etc., so that vessels may be moored alongside to load or unload or to lie at rest; quay; pier.
2. Obsolete.
a. a riverbank.
b. the shore of the sea.
–verb (used with object)
3. to provide with a wharf or wharves.
4. to place or store on a wharf: The schedule allowed little time to wharf the cargo.
5. to accommodate at or bring to a wharf: The new structure will wharf several vessels.
–verb (used without object)
6. to tie up at a wharf; dock: The ship wharfed in the early morning.
Origin:
bef. 1050; ME (n.); OE hwearf embankment; c. MLG warf; akin to G Werf pier
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To wharf
As easy as a dock gets
You alone, can install & remove our patented pier, guaranteed. Stay dry
www.pierofdnort.com
wharf   (hwôrf, wôrf)   
n.   pl. wharves (hwôrvz, wôrvz) or wharfs

  1. A landing place or pier where ships may tie up and load or unload.

  2. Obsolete A shore or riverbank.

v.   wharfed, wharf·ing, wharfs

v.   tr.

  1. To moor (a vessel) at a wharf.

  2. To take to or store (cargo) on a wharf.

  3. To furnish, equip, or protect with wharves or a wharf.

v.   intr.
To berth at a wharf.

[Middle English, from Old English hwearf.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

wharf 
late O.E. hwearf "shore, bank where ships can tie up," earlier "dam, embankment," from P.Gmc. *khwarfaz (cf. M.L.G. werf "mole, dam, wharf," Ger. Werft "shipyard, dockyard"); related to O.E. hwearfian "to turn," perhaps in a sense implying "busy activity," from PIE base *kwerp- "to turn, revolve" (cf. O.N. hverfa "to turn round," Ger. werben "to enlist, solicit, court, woo," Goth. hvairban "to wander," Gk. kartos "wrist," Skt. surpam "winnowing fan"). Wharf rat "person who hangs around docks" is recorded from 1836.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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