quay

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Related to Quays: wharves

quay

(kē, kā, kwā)

A wharf or reinforced bank for the loading or unloading of ships or boats.

[Middle English keye, from Old North French cai, of Celtic origin.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

quay

(kiː)

(Human Geography) a wharf, typically one built parallel to the shoreline. Compare pier¹

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

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

quay

(kē, kā, kwā),
n.

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

[1690–1700; sp. variant (after French quai) of earlier kay (also key, whence the modern pronunciation) < Old French kay, cay, akin to Sp cayo shoal. See key²]

quay

A structure of solid construction along a shore or bank that provides berthing and generally provides cargo-handling facilities. A similar facility of open construction is called a wharf. See also wharf.

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

quay - wharf usually built parallel to the shoreline

pier, wharf, wharfage, dock - a platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats

quay

noun dock, pier, landing, harbour, berth, wharf, jetty, pontoon, slipway, landing stage Jack and Stephen were waiting for them on the quay.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

رَصيفرَصِيفُ الـمِينَاء

nábřežínákladištěpřístaviště

kaj

laituri

pristanište

rakodópartrakpart

hafnarbakki

banchina molo

埠頭

부두선창

izbūvēta krastmalamolspiestātne

nákladisko

nabrežje

kaj

ที่ที่เอาเรือเข้าเทียบท่า

iskele

bến tàu

码头

quay

[kiː] N → muelle m
on the quay → en el muelle

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

quay

[ˈkiː] n → quai m
on the quay → sur le quai

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

quay

n → Kai m; alongside the quay → am Kai

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

quay

[kiː] n → molo, banchina

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

quay

(kiː) , (kei) noun

a solid, usually stone, landing-place, where boats are loaded and unloaded. The boat is moored at the quay.

ˈquayside noun

the side or edge of a quay. The boat was tied up at the quayside.

quay

→ رَصِيفُ الـمِينَاء nábřeží kaj Kai αποβάθρα muelle laituri quai pristanište banchina 埠頭 선창 kade kai nadbrzeże cais причал kaj ที่ที่เอาเรือเข้าเทียบท่า iskele bến tàu 码头

References in classic literature ?

As Thar Ban rode noiselessly up the broad avenue which leads from the quays of Aaanthor to the great central plaza, he and his mount might have been mistaken for spectres from a world of dreams, so grotesque the man and beast, so soundless the great thoat's padded, nailless feet upon the moss-grown flagging of the ancient pavement.

Keeping in the shadows of the great monoliths that line the Avenue of Quays of sleeping Aaanthor, he approached the plaza.

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The whole French court ran to the harbor, while the quays and jetties were soon covered by crowds of people.

"Stay," said he: "we want two places in your boat;" and wrapping five or six pistoles in paper, he threw them from the quay into the boat.

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I spent long hours in the Louvre, the most friendly of all galleries and the most convenient for meditation; or idled on the quays, fingering second-hand books that I never meant to buy.

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The whole city, high and low, the quays bordering the Patapsco, the ships lying in the basins, disgorged a crowd drunk with joy, gin, and whisky.

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Little by little the scene on the quay became more animated; sailors of various nations, merchants, ship-brokers, porters, fellahs, bustled to and fro as if the steamer were immediately expected.

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I first beheld him on the quay, a complete stranger to me, obviously not a Hollander, in a black bowler and a short drab overcoat, ridiculously out of tone with the winter aspect of the waste-lands, bordered by the brown fronts of houses with their roofs dripping with melting snow.

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The marshal made no attempt to force that barrier and returned up the quay. But at Pont Neuf he found Louvieres and his bourgeois.

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A dense crowd soon assembled on the quay, waiting for them to disembark.

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Half the sky was chequered with black thunderheads, but all the west was luminous and clear: in the lightning flashes it looked like deep blue water, with the sheen of moonlight on it; and the mottled part of the sky was like marble pavement, like the quay of some splendid seacoast city, doomed to destruction.

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It was then, as it is to-day, an irregular trapezoid, bordered on one side by the quay, and on the other three by a series of lofty, narrow, and gloomy houses.