Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Bay

Bay (bā) , adjective

[French bai, from Latin badius brown, chestnut-colored; -- used only of horses.]

Reddish brown; of the color of a chestnut; -- applied to the color of horses.
Collocations (2)
Bay cat (Zoology) , a wild cat of Africa and the East Indies (Felis aurata).
Bay lynx (Zoology) , the common American lynx (Lynx lynx, formerly Felis rufa or Lynx rufa).

Bay , noun

[French baie, from Late Latin baia. Of uncertain origin: compare Ir. & Gael. badh or bagh bay, harbor, creek; Bisc. baia, baiya, harbor, and French bayer to gape, open the mouth.]

1.
(Geography) An inlet of the sea, usually smaller than a gulf, but of the same general character.

The name is not used with much precision, and is often applied to large tracts of water, around which the land forms a curve; as, Hudson's Bay. The name is not restricted to tracts of water with a narrow entrance, but is used for any recess or inlet between capes or headlands; as, the Bay of Biscay.

2.
A small body of water set off from the main body; as a compartment containing water for a wheel; the portion of a canal just outside of the gates of a lock, etc.
3.
A recess or indentation shaped like a bay.
4.
A principal compartment of the walls, roof, or other part of a building, or of the whole building, as marked off by the buttresses, vaulting, mullions of a window, etc.; one of the main divisions of any structure, as the part of a bridge between two piers.
5.
A compartment in a barn, for depositing hay, or grain in the stalks.
6.
A kind of mahogany obtained from Campeachy Bay.
Collocations (1)
Sick bay , in vessels of war, that part of a deck appropriated to the use of the sick. — Totten

Bay , noun

[French baie a berry, the fruit of the laurel and other trees, from Latin baca, bacca, a small round fruit, a berry, akin to Lithuanian bapka laurel berry.]

1.
A berry, particularly of the laurel. [Obsolete]
2.
The laurel tree (Laurus nobilis). Hence, in the plural, an honorary garland or crown bestowed as a prize for victory or excellence, anciently made or consisting of branches of the laurel.
The patriot's honors and the poet's bays. — Trumbull
3.
A tract covered with bay trees. [Local, United States]
Collocations (1)
Bay leaf , the leaf of the bay tree (Laurus nobilis). It has a fragrant odor and an aromatic taste, and is used for flavoring in food.

Bay (bād) , intransitive verb

[Old English bayen, abayen, Old French abaier, French aboyer, to bark; of uncertain origin.]

To bark, as a dog with a deep voice does, at his game.
The hounds at nearer distance hoarsely bayed. — Dryden

Bay ({not transcribed}) , transitive verb

To bark at; hence, to follow with barking; to bring or drive to bay; as, to bay the bear. — Shakespeare

Bay ({not transcribed}) , noun

[See Bay, v. i.]

1.
Deep-toned, prolonged barking.
The bay of curs. — Cowper
2.
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. — Dryden
The most terrible evils are just kept at bay by incessant efforts. — I. Taylor

Bay , transitive verb

[Compare Old English bawen to bathe, and German bahen to foment.]

To bathe. [Obsolete] — Spenser

Bay , noun

A bank or dam to keep back water.

Bay , transitive verb

To dam, as water; -- with up or back.