I. bay 1 /beɪ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Sense 1: Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: baie , from Old Spanish bahia ]
[ Sense 2: Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: bay 'condition of a hunted animal that is trapped and has to turn around' (14-17 centuries) , from Old French abai , from abaiier ; ⇨ ↑ bay 2 ]
[ Sense 3-4: Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: baee 'opening' , from baer 'to have the mouth wide open' ]
[ Sense 5: Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: baie 'berry' , from Latin baca ]
[ Sense 6: Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ bay 3 ]
1 . SEA a part of the sea that is partly enclosed by a curve in the land:
a house with a view across the bay
Montego Bay
2 . keep/hold something at bay to prevent something dangerous or unpleasant from happening or from coming too close:
A thick wall keeps the noise at bay.
3 . AREA an area within a large room or just outside a building that is used for a particular purpose:
a storage bay
loading bay
4 . FOR CARGO the part of a ship or plane where things are stored:
the cargo bay
5 . TREE ( also bay tree ) a tree that has leaves that smell sweet and are often used in cooking
6 . HORSE a horse that is a reddish brown colour
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ the sea especially British English the large area of salty water that covers much of the Earth’s surface:
She lives by the sea.
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The sea was very rough.
▪ the ocean especially American English the large area of salty water that covers much of the Earth’s surface:
a house by the ocean
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The restaurant had a sweeping view of the ocean.
▪ waters a large area of water – used about an area of water that belongs to a particular country, or when describing what the water is like:
boats fishing in Canadian waters
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British territorial waters
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the calm waters of the harbour
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dangerous waters
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choppy waters (=with a lot of waves)
▪ bay an area of sea that is partly enclosed by a curve in the land:
I swam across the bay.
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the Bay of Biscay
▪ gulf a very large area of sea partly enclosed by land:
the Gulf of Mexico
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oil from the Gulf (=the area of water near Iran, Saudi Arabia etc)
▪ tide the regular rising and falling of the level of the sea:
Is the tide going out or coming in ?
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High tide (=when the sea is at its highest level) is at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
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low tide (=when the sea is at its lowest level)
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The rocks are visible at low tide.
▪ wave a line of raised water that moves across the surface of the sea:
The waves were crashing against the rocks.
II. bay 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: abaiier , from the sound ]
1 . if a dog bays, it makes a long high noise, especially when it is chasing something SYN howl :
dogs baying at the moon
2 . to make strong demands to get answers to questions or force someone to give you something
bay for
Reporters began baying for the president’s blood (=demanding that he be punished) .
III. bay 3 BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: bai , from Latin badius ]
a bay horse is reddish brown in colour