Words / B2

DOK/dɒk/

A dock is a place in a port where ships load and unload; also the enclosed place in court for the accused: in dock; dry dock. Harbour is the wider water; quay and berth are close twins; the dock in court is not a harbour. Map the dock on the harbour plan, then the cargo. Mix-up: dock vs deck; doctor; do not write dock for a garden pond with no port in the source.

Meaning

A place in a port where ships load and unload; also the enclosed place in court for the accused.

Examples

• “Map the dock on the harbour plan, then the cargo; the dock in court is the stand for the accused.”
• “Wages were docked in the accounts, which is the deduct-pay sense of the verb — still quote the £ figure.”

Good to know

in dock; a dry / wet dock; the dock (court); dock wages (verb). Close: quay / berth. Trap: deck. Geography, history, and citizenship. A ship berth, the accused person’s stand, or to deduct — specify.

Near in meaning

quay, berth, harbour

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