Etymology From French baie, from Late Latin baia, probably ultimately from Iberian or Basque badia. Partly displaced native Old English byht, whence bight.
1
Geography, Natural sciences A body of water (especially the sea) contained by a concave shoreline.
This hotel has a great view across the bay.
'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
355 termsafterbay, bay breeze, bay duiker, bayfront, bayless, baylet, baylike, bayman, bay owl, bayplan, bay salt, bayside, Baystater, baywop, bebay, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, embay, embayment, forebay, Greater Bay Area, imbay, Malibu bay breeze, midbay, multibay, sickbay, subbay, transbay, Abels Bay, Adventure Bay, Algoa Bay, Alton Bay, Amerika Bay, Anna Bay, Ansons Bay, Antechamber Bay, Apollo Bay, Arno Bay, Back Bay, Baglan Bay, Baird Bay, Ball Bay, Barefoot Bay, Barnegat Bay, Barnes Bay, Barragga Bay, Barrow Bay, Bateau Bay, Batemans Bay, Bay Bulls, Bay City, Bay County, Bay de Verde, Bay Head, Bay Islands, Bay L'Argent, Bay of Bengal, Bay of Biscay, Bay of Islands, Bay of Kotor, Bay of Mexico, Bay of Plenty, Bay of Quinte, Bay of Shoals, Bay Roberts, Bay Shore, Bay State, Bay St. Louis, Bell Bay, Binalong Bay, Bingil Bay, Birchs Bay, Birchy Bay, Biscayne Bay, Blackmans Bay, Blind Bay, Blue Bay, Bo Hai Bay, Bonnells Bay, Bonnet Bay, Booker Bay, Boomer Bay, Botany Bay, Braemar Bay, Bremer Bay, Breton Bay, Brig Bay, Brooks Bay, Buzzards Bay, Byron Bay, Cairns Bay, Callala Bay, Canada Bay, Carbis Bay, Cardiff Bay, Cardigan Bay, Carey Bay, Castlebay, Castle Forbes Bay, Catherine Hill Bay, Cenderawasih Bay, Chain Valley Bay, Charlotte Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Chittaway Bay, Clayton Bay, Coffin Bay, Cogra Bay, Coles Bay, Colwyn Bay, Conception Bay, Cooee Bay, Coomba Bay, Coral Bay, Coronet Bay, Cow Bay, Cramps Bay, Crangan Bay, Creel Bay, Croudace Bay, Crowdy Bay, Cruden Bay, Cutler Bay, Cuttlefish Bay, Dalgety Bay, Deadman's Bay, Deception Bay, Deep Bay, Delaware Bay, Denial Bay, D'Estrees Bay, Dingle Bay, Dolans Bay, Donegal Bay, Double Bay, Dvina Bay, Eagle Bay, East Bay, Eggs and Bacon Bay, Elizabeth Bay, Elvina Bay, Empire Bay, Emu Bay, Encounter Bay, Erowal Bay, Etty Bay, False Bay, Fannie Bay, Fennell Bay, Fern Bay, Fingal Bay, Fisherman Bay, Fishermans Bay, Flat Bay, Florence Bay, Foul Bay, Gardners Bay, Gdańsk Bay, Geilston Bay, Georgian Bay, Germein Bay, Glace Bay, Glaziers Bay, Golden Bay, Goose Bay, Goughs Bay, Grassy Bay, Great Bay, Guantanamo Bay, Guerilla Bay, Gymea Bay, Halibut Bay, Haliday Bay, Hạ Long Bay, Hamelin Bay, Hampton Bays, Hardwicke Bay, Hardys Bay, Hare Bay, Hawke Bay, Hawke's Bay, Haywards Bay, Hideaway Bay, Holdfast Bay, Holes Bay, Horseshoe Bay, Horsfield Bay, Hudson Bay, Huntington Bay, Ida Bay, Indian Bay, Ise Bay, Island Bay, Israelite Bay, Jamaica Bay, Jervis Bay, Jervis Bay Territory, Jordan Bay, Jurien Bay, Kāneʻohe Bay, Kellidie Bay, Kilaben Bay, Kinmel Bay, Kogarah Bay, Kuwait Bay, Kyle Bay, Lake of Bays, Largo Bay, Largs Bay, Laura Bay, Lavender Bay, Little Bay, Lodge Bay, Logy Bay, Loon Bay, Louth Bay, Lovett Bay, Lucky Bay, Lyme Bay, Madora Bay, Mahone Bay, Malua Bay, Marion Bay, Massachusetts Bay, Massey Bay, Mitchell Bay, Montagu Bay, Moonta Bay, Morass Bay, Morecambe Bay, Moreton Bay, Moreton Bay ash, Morning Bay, Mossel Bay, Mountain Bay, Mount Dutton Bay, Musselroe Bay, Mystery Bay, Myuna Bay, Nakhodka Bay, Nelly Bay, Nelson Bay, Nepean Bay, Neutral Bay, Normans Bay, Norman's Bay, North Batemans Bay, North Bay, Northern Bay, Notre Dame Bay, Oak Bay, Old Erowal Bay, Opossum Bay, Ormoc Bay, Oyster Bay, Palm Bay, Palmetto Bay, Pavlof Bay, Peaceful Bay, Pelly Bay, Petcheys Bay, Pevensey Bay, Phegans Bay, Phillip Bay, Picnic Bay, Pioneer Bay, Placentia Bay, Pleasant Bay, Pohai Bay, Point of Bay, Preservation Bay, Prospect Bay, Prudhoe Bay, Pukerua Bay, Racecourse Bay, Randalls Bay, Rapid Bay, Red Bay, Redland Bay, Red Wharf Bay, Resolute Bay, Robin Hood's Bay, Rodds Bay, Rose Bay, Round Bay, Rowes Bay, Runaway Bay, Rushcutters Bay, Safety Bay, Sagami Bay, Salamander Bay, Saltery Bay, Sandy Bay, San Francisco Bay, Sceale Bay, Scots Bay, Seal Bay, Shad Bay, Shallow Bay, Shark Bay, Shoal Bay, Simpsons Bay, Smoky Bay, Southern Bay, Southern Moreton Bay Islands, Spaniard's Bay, Spanish Ship Bay, Spring Bay, Spry Bay, St Austell Bay, St Brides Bay, St Margaret's Bay, St Mary's Bay, Stokes Bay, Streaky Bay, Subic Bay, Sunderland Bay, Sunshine Bay, Surges Bay, Surprise Bay, Suruga Bay, Surveyors Bay, Suttons Bay, Swan Bay, Swansea Bay, Table Bay, Tanilba Bay, Tarbuck Bay, Taylor Bay, Temryuk Bay, Terence Bay, Thorpe Bay, Tin Can Bay, Toowoon Bay, Torbay, Tosa Bay, Totland Bay, Trinity Bay, Tumby Bay, Venus Bay, Vivonne Bay, Walvis Bay, Waratah Bay, Warners Bay, Watermans Bay, Watsons Bay, Wemyss Bay, West Bay, Western Bay, Whitefish Bay, Whitley Bay, William Bay, Witless Bay, Wool Bay, Woy Woy Bay, Yowie Bay
bay
verb
Etymology From the root *bai, combined with aphetized form of abay; verbal form of baier, abaier.
1
To howl.
The hounds at nearer distance hoarsely bay'd.1700, [John] Dryden, “Theodore and Honoria, from Boccace”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
For at the last shall the thunder, fleeing to escape from the doom of the gods, roar horribly among the Worlds; and Time, the hound of the gods, shall bay hungrily at his masters because he is lean with age.1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 92:
1 more example
The scene was rocking, all were digging the sounds Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds The coffin-bangers were about to arrive With their vocal group, The Crypt-Kicker Five.1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers:
2
To bark at; hence, to follow with barking; to bring or drive to bay.
to bay the bear
Spit, and throw stones, cast mire upon me, set / The dogs o'th' street to bay mea. 1611, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, act 5, scene 5, lines 222–223:
Etymology From Middle English bay, bai, from Old French bai, from Latin badius (“reddish brown, chestnut”).
1
Especially, Of horses Of a reddish-brown colour with a black mane and tail.
Mr. Free also owned restaurants and bred horses. His bay gelding, Packett's Landing, won almost $800,000 in his five-year career in the late 1980's and early 1990's.2003 January 8, Stuart Lavietes, “F. William Free, 74, Ad Man Behind 'Fly Me'”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Etymology From Middle English baye, baie, from Old English beġ (“berry”), as in beġbēam (“berry-tree”), conflated with Old French baie, from Latin bāca (“berry”).
1
A tree or shrub of species Laurus nobilis (family Lauraceae), having dark green leaves and berries.
2
Bay leaf, the leaf of this or certain other species of tree or shrub, used as a herb.
3
Mahogany of species Swietenia macrophylla obtained from Campeche in Mexico.
4
Archaic, In plural The leaves of this shrub, woven into a garland used to reward a champion or victor; hence, fame, victory.
both you here with many a cursed oth, / Sweare she is yours, and stirre vp bloudie frayes, / To win a willow bough, whilest other weares the bayes.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
The patriot's honours and the poet's bays.1771, John Trumbull, On the Vanity of Youthful Expectations:
Etymology From Middle English, from Old French baee, beee, from the verb beer (“gape open”), from Early Medieval Latin batāre. Compare Modern French baie. More at bevel, badinage.
An opening in a wall, especially between two columns.
2
An internal recess; a compartment or area surrounded on three sides.
Wrex: And Shepard--I like what you've done with the Normandy. Got tired of always hanging around the cargo bay before.2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-2:
A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays.2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):
3
A display unit in a shop or store, especially a large metal one.
end bay
gondola bay
1 more example
wall bay
4
A section of ceiling delineated by supports such as rafters or vaulting ribs.
5
Nautical, Transport Each of the spaces, port and starboard, between decks, forward of the bitts, in sailing warships.
There is a short bay at the west end of each platform, but neither is used for passenger trains.1946 May and June, G. A. Sekon, “L.B.S.C.R. West Coast Section—3”, in Railway Magazine, page 149:
7
A bay window.
8
A room for editing video footage or physical film.
Etymology From the root *bai, combined with aphetized form of abay; verbal form of baier, abaier.
1
The excited howling of dogs when hunting or being attacked.
The hunt is up, the morn is bright and grey, / The fields are fragrant, and the woods are green. / Uncouple here, and let us make a bay / And wake the Emperor and his lovely bride, / And rouse the Prince, and ring a hunter's peal, / That all the court may echo with the noise.c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, act 2, scene 2, lines 1–6:
2
Broadly The climactic confrontation between hunting-dogs and their prey.
3
Figuratively A state of being obliged to face an antagonist or a difficulty, when escape has become impossible.
Embolden'd by despair, he stood at bay.1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
The most terrible evils are just kept at bay by incessant efforts.1832, [Isaac Taylor], Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC: