WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Wharf
Part of Speech : n.;
Etymology : [AS. hwerf, hwearf, a returning, a change, from hweorfan to turn, turn about, go about; akin to D. werf a wharf, G. werft, Sw. varf a shipbuilder's yard, Dan. verft wharf, dockyard, G. werben to enlist, to engage, woo, OHG. werban to turn about, go about,
Definition : 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. Etym: [AS. hwearf.]

Defn: The bank of a river, or the shore of the sea. [Obs.] "The fat weed that roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf." Shak. 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. (Zo?l.) (a) The common brown rat. (b) A neglected boy who lives around the wharfs. [Slang]

pl. Wharfs or Wharves.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Wharf
Part of Speech : v.
Definition : 1. To guard or secure by a firm wall of timber or stone constructed like a wharf; to furnish with a wharf or wharfs.

2. To place upon a wharf; to bring to a wharf.

t. [imp. & p. p. Wharfed; p. pr. & vb. n. Wharfing.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913