Meanings
- not comparableuncommonTowards a quay; in the direction of a quay.
[…] of the sea. As it rose and fell every pulse in the estuary carried them quayward, carried them seaward.
1969, Jon Stallworthy, “Epilogue to an Empire 1600 - 1900: an ode for Trafalgar Day”, in Root and Branch, Great Britain: Chatto and Windus, page 422 more examples
All down the quays vessels moored after their fashion—bows quayward, sterns outward; an arrangement giving an immense number of ships each its own small share of landing.
1886 April 29, Charles W. Wood, “Under Northern Skies”, in The Argosy, volume XLI, pages 292-293The surf was plunging and leaping over the great break-water before the harbour, and our small shore boat danced like a cork even inside, now cocking her stern, now her bows, as she crept quayward through the shipping.
1912, Arthur Waltham Howlett, “Pendant Jewel of India”, in Many Camps: Sketches of Indian Life, Allahabad [now Prayagraj]: The Pioneer Press, page 63
- not comparableuncommonBeing in or facing towards a quay.
The floor slopes from quayward side of the shed up to railway lines at the back of the shed, where it reaches full ordinary platform height.
1947 May 29, R. P. Biddle, “Port Facilities and their Operation at Southampton”, in The Dock and Harbour Authority, volume XXVIII, number 319, page 28, column 23 more examples
Now in the crowded noon, sustained a pediment by the shuffle and whisper of adulation that came up over as on the quayward side, he seemed to give the lie to these speculations.
1920 October 29, Wilbur Daniel Steele, “At Two-in-the-Bush”, in Harper's Magazine, volume CXLI, number DCCCXLV, page 579, column 1Half a mile back up past the City Hall, via Chichester Street, are the Royal Courts of Justice, opened in 1933, and not far distant, at the quayward end of High Street, is the Albert clock tower, dating from 1870.
1969 June 21, Bathoe Rainsford, “Belfast: new city with long history”, in Chemist and Druggist, volume 191, number 4662, page 558, column 1Slip the forward line and push the bow off, making it pass through the eye of the wind. The boat will pivot on the spring and, as soon as she has the wind properly on the quayward side, sheets can be hardened and the spring slipped.
1978 [1972], “Arrival and Departure” (chapter 10), in James MacGibbon, Stanley Caldwell, transl., The New Glénans Sailing Manual, United States: Sail Books, Inc., page 352
Origin
Cite this entry
quayward. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quayward
“quayward.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quayward. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “quayward,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/quayward.
Source: quayward on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.