wharf

CEFRB2

/ˈwɔːf/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A platform beside water where boats load and unload.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Any bank of a river or shore of a sea.

Examples

  • Once a month, there was a rave in the wharf's abandoned warehouse.

  • The ship sounded its whistle and pulled away from the wharf.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
3
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • /ˈʍɔɹf/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. To secure by a wharf.

  2. An artificial landing place for ships on a riverbank or shore.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To place on a wharf.

More examples

In context

  • The wharf was always busy, even when the ships had yet to arrive.

  • Commerce pushes its wharves into the sea.

  • Out upon the wharfs they came, / Knight and burgher, lord and dame, / And round the prow they read her name, / The Lady of Shalott.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The ship was unloading cargo at the blank, a wooden structure extending into the harbor.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English wharf, from Old English hwearf (“heap, embankment, wharf”); related to Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), Old Saxon hwerf (whence German Werft and Warft), Dutch werf, Old High German hwarb (“a turn”), hwerban (“to turn”), Old Norse hvarf (“circle”), and Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “wrist”).