berth

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Chiefly in wide berth

   Chiefly in wide berth: a sufficient space in the water for a ship or other vessel to lie at anchor or manoeuvre without getting in the way of other vessels, or colliding into rocks or the shore.

   • Tho' vve vvere again got near our harbour by three in the afternoon, yet it ſeemed to require a full hour or more, before vve could come to our former place of anchoring, or birth, as the captain called it.
   • "[…] She lays close to the Endymion, between her and the Cleopatra, just to the eastward of the sheer hulk." / "Ha!" cried William, "that's just where I should have put her myself. It's the best birth at Spithead.[…]"
2. 2

   An assigned place for a person in (chiefly historical) a horse-drawn coach or other means…

   An assigned place for a person in (chiefly historical) a horse-drawn coach or other means of transportation, or (military) in a barracks.

   • [W]ith worldly wisdom, the first comer hastens to secure the best birth in the coach for himself, and to make the most convenient arrangement for his baggage before the arrival of his competitor.
3. 3

   A bunk or other bed for sleeping on in a caravan, a train, etc.

4. ›+ 11 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A place for a vehicle on land to park.

   2. 5

      An appointment, job, or position, especially one regarded as comfortable or good.

      • He vvas a Surgeon, and they called him Doctor; but he vvas not employed in the Sloop as a Surgeon, but vvas going to Berbadoes to get a Birth, as the Sailors call it.
      • [Y]ou have got a good vvarm birth here; but vve ſhall beat up your quarters. Here, Lucy, Moll, come to the fire, and dry your trumpery.
      • Howsomever, I 'll do the very best I can in gettin' Tom a good berth; as to my treatin' on him bad, you need n't be a grain afeard.
   3. 6

      A proper place for a thing.

   4. 7

      A position or seed in a tournament bracket.

   5. 8

      A position on a field of play.

      • Olivier Giroud then entered the fray and [Theo] Walcott reverted to his more familiar berth on the right wing, quickly creating his side's fifth goal by crossing for Giroud to send a plunging header into the net from close range.
   6. 9

      To bring (a ship or other vessel) into a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.1)

      To bring (a ship or other vessel) into a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.1); also, to provide a berth for (a vessel).

      • Further west, in Pembrokeshire, the Esso Petroleum Co. refinery at Milford Haven, opened last November, is designed to berth the world's largest tankers and to process, initially, 4,500,000 tons of crude oil a year.
   7. 10

      To assign (someone) a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.3 or etymology 1, noun sense…

      To assign (someone) a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.3 or etymology 1, noun sense 2.2) or place to sleep on a vessel, a train, etc.

   8. 11

      To provide (someone) with a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 3.1) or appointment, job,…

      To provide (someone) with a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 3.1) or appointment, job, or position.

   9. 12

      Of a vessel

      Of a vessel: to move into a berth.

   10. 13

       Of a person

       Of a person: to occupy a berth.

       • The cabin-boy Ransome […] came in at times from the round-house, where he berthed and served, now nursing a bruised limb in silent agony, now raving against the cruelty of Mr. Shuan.
   11. 14

       Chiefly in shipbuilding

       Chiefly in shipbuilding: to construct (a ship or part of it) using wooden boards or planks; to board, to plank.

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