staithe

English

a coal-loading staithe

Etymology

From Old English stæþ and/or Old Norse stöð (“harbor”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /steɪθ/, /steɪð/
• Rhymes: -eɪθ, -eɪð

Noun

staithe (plural staithes)

1. (UK, obsolete) A riverbank
2. (UK, archaic or dialectal) A fixed structure where ships land, especially to load and unload; wharf; landing stage.
   • 1951 March, E. W. Twining, “The First Railway Locomotive”, in Railway Magazine, page 197:

     Trevithick's first use of steam traction on rail took place at Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire, on a tramroad 9¾ miles long between the Penydarren ironworks of Samuel Homfray, and the staithes at Abercynon, where the worked iron was loaded into barges on the Glamorganshire Canal.

3. (UK, rail transport) An installation built at the railside or nearby for the storage of coal unloaded from wagons.

Usage notes

• The landing stage sense is common in place names, particularly in the former Danelaw area of east and north-east England where it remains dialectal in use.

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

• wharf

See also

• Category:staithes on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• ate shit, atheist, eat shit, hastite, teatish