berth

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Sufficient space for a ship to maneuver; sea room: kept a clear berth of the reefs.
2. n. A space for a ship to dock or anchor: a steamship moored to its berth at the pier.
3. n. Employment on a ship: sought an officer's berth in the merchant marine.
4. n. A job: a comfortable berth as head of the department.
5. n. A built-in bed or bunk, as on a ship or a train.
6. n. A place to sleep or stay; accommodations: found a berth in a nearby hotel.
7. n. A space where a vehicle can be parked, as for loading.
8. v. To bring (a ship) to a berth.
9. v. To provide with a berth.
10. v. To come to a berth; dock.
11. idiom. a wide berth Ample space or distance to avoid an unwanted consequence: gave their angry colleague a wide berth.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. An obsolete spelling of birth.
2. n. Nautical: Sea-room; space kept or to be kept for safety or convenience between a vessel under sail and other vessels or the shore, rocks, etc.: especially in the phrases, also used figuratively, to give a good, clear, or wide berth to, keep a wide berth of (to keep clear of, keep well away from).
3. n. Room for a vessel to turn around or to ride at anchor.
4. n. A station in which a ship lies or can lie, whether at anchor or at a wharf.
5. n. A room or an apartment in a ship where a number of officers or men mess and reside.
6. n. The shelf-like space allotted to a passenger in a vessel (and hence in a railroad sleeping-car) as a sleeping-place; a sailor's bunk on board ship; a place for a hammock, or a repository for chests.
7. n. A post or an appointment; situation; employment: as, he has got a good berth at last.
8. Nautical: To assign or allot anchoring-ground to; give space to lie in, as a ship in a dock.
9. To allot a berth or berths to: as, to berth a ship's company.
10. To board; cover with boards: chiefly in ship-building.
11. To find a berth for; provide with a “job” or “situation.”
12. To occupy as living-quarters on shipboard: used with in.

Wiktionary

1. n. A fixed bunk for sleeping in (caravans, trains, etc).
2. n. Room for maneuvering or safety. (Often used in the phrase a wide berth.)
3. n. A space for a ship to moor or a vehicle to park.
4. n. A job or position, especially on a ship.
5. n. sports Position or seed in a tournament bracket.
6. n. sports position on the field of play
7. v. transitive to bring (a ship or vehicle) into its berth
8. v. transitive to assign a berth (bunk or position) to

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. Convenient sea room.
2. n. A room in which a number of the officers or ship's company mess and reside.
3. n. The place where a ship lies when she is at anchor, or at a wharf.
4. n. An allotted place; an appointment; situation or employment.
5. n. A place in a ship to sleep in; a long box or shelf on the side of a cabin or stateroom, or of a railway car, for sleeping in.
6. v. To give an anchorage to, or a place to lie at; to place in a berth.
7. v. To allot or furnish berths to, on shipboard.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a bed on a ship or train; usually in tiers
2. n. a job in an organization
3. v. secure in or as if in a berth or dock
4. v. come into or dock at a wharf
5. n. a place where a craft can be made fast
6. v. provide with a berth