n. A berry, especially of the laurel-tree.n. The laurel-tree, noble laurel, or sweet-bay, Laurus nobilis. See laurel.n. Hence (like laurel, and in reference to the ancient use of the laurel)n. An honorary garland or crown bestowed as a prize for victory or excellence; also, fame or renown due to achievement or merit: in this sense used chiefly in the plural, with reference to the leaves or branches of laurel. Also called bay-leaf.n. [In the following quotation, the office of poet laureate: formerly a not uncommon use.n. Bays was sometimes used as a singular (compare bays, baize, as singular).n. [Cf. bay.] A piece of low, marshy ground producing large numbers of bay-trees.n. A recess in the shore of a sea or lake, differing from a creek in being less long and narrow; the expanse of water between two capes or headlands.n. An anchorage or roadstead for ships; a port; a harbor.n. A recess of land, as in a range of hills; a level space partly surrounded by heights.n. An arm of a prairie extending into woods and partly surrounded by them. [U. S.] Bartlett.n. A kind of mahogany obtained from Campeachy Bay (whence the name).n. A principal compartment or division in the architectural arrangement of a building, marked by buttresses or pilasters on the walls, by the disposition of the main ribs (arcs doubleaux) of the interior vaulting, by the placing of the main arches and pillars or of the principals of the roof, or by any other leading features that separate the design into corresponding parts.n. The part of a window included between two mullions; a light. Also called window-bay.n. A bay-window.n. A compartment in a barn for the storage of hay or grain.n. In carpentry, a portion of a compound or framed floor included between two girders, or between a girder and the wall.n. In plastering, the space between two screeds. See screed.n. Nautical, that part of a ship between decks which lies forward of the bitts, on either side; in a ship of war, the foremost messing-place between decks. See sick-bay.n. In bridge-building, the portion between two piers.n. In coal-mining: An open space for the gob or waste in a long-wall working.n. The space between two frames or sets in a level: synonymous with board.To open the mouth, as for food; seek with open mouth.To bark, as a dog; especially, to bark with a deep prolonged sound, as hounds in the chase.To bark at; beset with deep prolonged barking.To express by barking.To drive or pursue so as to compel to stand at bay; chase or hunt.To hold at bay.n. The deep-toned barking of a dog in pursuit of game; especially, the barking of a pack of hounds.n. The state of being so hard pressed, as a hunted animal by dogs and hunters, as to be compelled, from impossibility of escape, to turn and face the danger: with at or to: as, to be at bay, stand at bay, hold at bay (formerly also at a bay), bring to bay, etc.: often used figuratively, in these and other constructions, with reference to persons beset by enemies or held at a disadvantage: strait; distress.n. The state of being kept off by the bold attitude of an opponent; the state of being prevented by an enemy, or by any kind of resistance, from making further advance: with at.Reddish or brownish-red, inclining to chestnut; rufous; badious; castaneous: applied most frequently to horses, but also to other animals displaying the same color.n. A light woolen fabric (originally of a bay color), the manufacture of which was introduced into England in 1561 by refugees from France and the Netherlands: usually in plural bays, now, as singular, baize (which see).n. A bay horse.n. A dam; a pond-head; an embankment.To dam: as, to bay back the water.n. The bay-antler or bez-antler of a stag.To bend.A poetical perversion of bathe.n. In hydraulic engineering, an opening through a dam or bulkhead for the passage of water, generally capable of regulation by gates or sluices: as, a head-bay, an opening in a dam at the head of a flume or canal.