Meanings
plural wharfages
- countableuncountableWharfs collectively.
It was also pointed out wharfage and factory sites with river and canal frontage were adjoining.
1940 May, “The Why and the Wherefore: The Coley Branch, G.W.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 3171 more example
It is pleasant to swim well out into the stream of the river, and, with one’s chin on a level with the wide stretch of water, take in a “trout’s-eye view” of the little town, ascending in tiers of wharfage, trees, grey ramparts, more trees, and clustered roofs, with the old cathedral of the Trinity poised guardian-like above the crumbling walls of the Kremlin.
1924, Saki, “The Old Town of Pskoff”, in The Square Egg and Other Sketches, London: John Lane, page 156Synonyms: dockage
- countableuncountableA fee charged for using a wharf.
the wharfage or shorage rates are 10 cents per cord of wood, 10 cents per thousand feet of lumber, and 1 cent per tie, and these rates do not include handling
1913, United States. Army. Corps of Engineers, Water terminal and transfer facilities, page 5371 more example
If the owner of goods deposited at a wharf sells them, and gives notice to the wharfinger of such sale, on tendering the wharfage then due, he is discharged from liability for future wharfage.
1895, John Houston Merrill, The American and English Encyclopedia of Law, page 100Synonyms: dockage
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA dock, quay, or pier.
nounWharfs collectively.
nounA fee charged for using a wharf.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*hwerbaną
- Proto-West Germanic*hwerban
- Old Englishhweorfan
- Middle Englishwharf
- Middle Englishwharfage
- Englishwharfage
From Middle English wharfage; equivalent to wharf + -age.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
wharfage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wharfage
“wharfage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wharfage. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wharfage,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wharfage.
Source: wharfage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.