Definition of "bay" []

• A body of water partially enclosed by land but with a wide mouth, affording access to the sea: the Bay of Biscay. (noun)
• An area of land, such as an arm of prairie partially enclosed by woodland, that resembles in shape or formation a partially enclosed body of water. (noun)
• Architecture A part of a building marked off by vertical elements, such as columns or pilasters: an arcade divided into ten bays. (noun)
• Architecture A bay window. (noun)
• Architecture An opening or recess in a wall. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The name of this bay has a less unpleasant meaning in the Indian, than in the French language, signifying also _salt bay_, which induced Father"
• "They arrived in a fine bay on the 15th, twenty-one leagues from the mouth of the straits, called _Muscle bay_ by the English, because of the great quantities of muscles found there, and here they provided themselves abundantly with fresh water and wood."
• "II. i.254 (37,7) [I'll rent the fairest house in it, after three pence a bay] A _bay_ of building is, in many parts of England, a common term, of which the best conception that I could ever attain, is, that it is the space between the main beams of the roof; so that a barn crossed twice with beams is a barn of three"