Meanings
shay1
plural shays
- archaicA chaise.
The poſt-ſhay ſhall be at the door by ſix o'clock in the morning; and if Miſs Fanny does not get into it, vvhy I vvill, and ſo there's an end of the matter.
1766, George Colman, David Garrick, The Clandestine Marriage, a Comedy. […], London: […] T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, […]; R[oberts] Baldwin, […]; R. Davis, […]; and T[homas] Davies, […], →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 571 more example
Master sent me over with the shay-cart, to carry your luggage up to the house. He’d ha’ sent some saddle-horses, but he thought you’d rather walk, being a cold day.
1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, chapter XXVIII, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC
Shay2
- A surname from Irish.
- A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
- A diminutive of the male given name Seamus.
plural Shays
- rail transportA geared steam locomotive, patented by Ephraim Shay.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna carriage consisting of two wheels and a calash top; drawn by a single horse
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
shay · noun
A back-formation from chaise (originally from French), with the /z/ of that word taken as the plural ending -s.
Full word history & related roots →Shay · proper noun, noun
- IrishÓ Séaghdha
- EnglishShay
Variant of Shea, from Irish Ó Séaghdha.
More words from Irish
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with shay
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
shay. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shay
“shay.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shay. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shay,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shay.
Source: shay on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.