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bay

noun

  1. body of water created by an indentation in shoreline
  2. easily accessible opening in a building wall
  3. slot in a computer housing for an additional device
L14687 on Wikidata ↗

verb

  1. howl, particularly by a dog
L20351 on Wikidata ↗

adjective

  1. (especially of horses) reddish-brown colour
L334765 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈbeɪ̯/ / /ˈbeː/ / /ˈbæ̝ɪ̯/

adj

Etymology: From Middle English bay, bai, from Old French bai, from Latin badius (“reddish brown, chestnut”).

  1. 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.

name

Etymology: From bay.

  1. A surname

noun

Etymology: From Middle English bay, bai, from Old French bai, from Latin badius (“reddish brown, chestnut”).

  1. A brown colour/color of the coat of some horses.
  2. A horse of this color.

    […] browns are the soberest, bays are the worst tempered, and chestnuts are the most foolish.

verb

Etymology: From Old French bay, combined with aphetized form of abay; verbal form of baier, abaier.

  1. To howl.

    The hounds at nearer distance hoarsely bay'd.

    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.

  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 me

  3. To pursue noisily, like a pack of hounds.