▪ I. quay, n.
(kiː)
[Later spelling of kay, key n.2, after F. quai. The pron. is that of key; cf. however quots. 1723 and 1850.]
a. An artificial bank or landing-place, built of stone or other solid material, lying along or projecting into a navigable water for convenience of loading and unloading ships.
| 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), Quay or Kay, a broad Space pav'd upon the Shore of a River, Haven or Port, for the loading and unloading of Goods. 1723 Swift Stella at Wood-Park 46 But now arrives the dismal day, She must return to Ormond-quay. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 382 Repairs and improvement of the ancient quay. 1800 Colquhoun Comm. & Pol. Thames i. 26 The small Vessels land their Goods at the Quays. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xiv, If..I went down unto the quay [rime to-day], And found thee lying in the port. 1884 Pae Eustace xviii. 233 A small quay ran along the north of the little harbour. |
b. attrib. and
Comb., as
quay-berth,
quay-charges,
quay-dues,
quay-edge,
quay-head,
quay-holder,
quay-labourer,
quay-like adj.,
quay-man,
quay-master,
quay-rail,
quay-room,
quay-side (hence
quay-sider),
quay-space,
quay-stone,
quay-wall, etc.;
quay crane = wharf crane;
quay-punt (in full,
Falmouth quay-punt), a small fore-and-aft-rigged half-decked two-masted sailing boat,
orig. used on the river Fal for transporting stores between ship and shore.
| 1969 Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 286/3 Stevedoring companies who already have modern mechanised equipment at their disposal (quay-cranes, pontoon-cranes, trucks and elevators). 1977 Hongkong Standard 12 Apr. (Business Suppl.) 4/5 The group has a total of seven quay cranes. |
| 1889 P. H. Emerson Eng. Idyls 128 Paddling to a quay-head, they landed. |
| 1798 R. Dodd Port Lond. 9 The legal quay-holders and wharfingers. |
| c 1820 S. Rogers Italy, Como 28 A quay-like scene, glittering and full of life. |
| 1886 D. Kemp Man. Yacht & Boat Sailing (ed. 5) 341 Table of offsets (Falmouth quay punt). 1925 Yachting Monthly xxxix. 39/2 A quay punt before the war cost about {pstlg}120 to build. 1971 Country Life 20 May 1224/1 They were the bum boats of the western world and ranged from such rugged deep-keel craft as the Quay Punts of Falmouth to the graceful Deal galleys. |
| 1936 Dylan Thomas in Contemp. Poetry & Prose 53 Let the first Peter from a rainbow's quayrail Ask the tall fish. |
| 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. i. iii. (ed. 2) 40 The quay-room was extremely narrow and restricted. |
| 1903 Westm. Gaz. 31 Dec. 5/3 He saw another man climbing up the quayside ladder. 1928 Daily Tel. 7 Feb. 14/1 The foundations..rested in the rock found 70 ft. under the two quaysides. 1974 Times 12 Nov. 3/1 Quayside fish merchants at Hull. 1979 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVII. 663/1 Local fishermen..used to sell their hake, cod and herring on the quayside. |
| 1820 Keats Lamia i. 224 His galley now Grated the quay-stones. 1938 Dylan Thomas in 20th Cent. Verse Jan./Feb. 3, I make this in a warring absence when Each ancient, stone-necked minute of love's season Harbours my anchored tongue, slips the quaystone. |
| 1798 R. Dodd Port Lond. 7 Regular quay-walls on both sides the river. |
Hence
quay v.1 trans., to provide with a quay. Also
quayed (
kiːd)
ppl. a.| 1799 W. Tooke View Russian Emp. I. 256 The whole extent of the left-hand bank, Catharine the second caused to be quayed with granite. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. iv. 592 Quay the calm ports and dike the lawns I lave. 1857 Ecclesiologist XVIII. 175 The quayed and purified Thames. |
▪ II. † quay, v.2 Obs. rare—1.
[? Alteration of quail v.] trans. To depress, subdue, daunt.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 14 Therewith his sturdie corage soon was quayd, And all his sences were with suddein dread dismayd. |
▪ III. quay obs. form of
whey.