bay.

1. A spatial division of a building marked by structural supports or other repeated features.

2. An inlet of water partly enclosed by land.

3. To give a prolonged barking or howling cry, especially as a hound.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• central bay
• window bay

On the page

The central bay was wider than the divisions on either side.

She crossed three bays of the hall before reaching the darker doorway.

Usage notes

Primary category: architecture / spatial description. Forms: Noun singular bay; plural bays. Verb bay; third-person bays; past and participle bayed; present participle baying. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: precise built-space description, structural component naming, spatial orientation, interior material description. Disciplines: fiction writing, architectural description, advanced descriptive English. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: bays.