berth

noun

1. (broadly)Chiefly in wide berth: a sufficient space in the water for a ship or other vessel to lie at anchor or manoeuvre without getting in the way of other vessels, or colliding into rocks or the shore.

   “Tho' vve vvere again got near our harbour by three in the afternoon, yet it ſeemed to require a full hour or more, before vve could come to our former place of anchoring, or birth, as the captain called it.”

   “"[…] She lays close to the Endymion, between her and the Cleopatra, just to the eastward of the sheer hulk." / "Ha!" cried William, "that's just where I should have put her myself. It's the best birth at Spithead.[…]"”

   “The voyage was a skilful and lucky one; and returning to her berth with her hold full of the precious sperm, the Amelia's example was soon followed by other ships, English and American, and thus the vast Sperm Whale grounds of the Pacific were thrown open.”

   “Hard on the heels of the last Ostend boat train comes the first Calais train to connect with the sailing of the Invicta from Berth 2 directly opposite the platform end.”

2. (broadly)Chiefly in wide berth: a sufficient space in the water for a ship or other vessel to lie at anchor or manoeuvre without getting in the way of other vessels, or colliding into rocks or the shore.

   “And vvhen he had ſhevvn me their birth (as he called it) I vvas filled vvith aſtoniſhment and horror.—VVe deſcended by divers ladders to a ſpace as dark as a dungeon, vvhich I underſtood vvas immerſed ſeveral feet under vvater, being immediately above the hold: I had no ſooner approached this diſmal gulph, than my noſe vvas ſaluted vvith an intolerable ſtench of putrified cheeſe, and rancid butter, […]”

   “But not only was this the first day that Jack may be said to have appeared in the service, but it was the first day in which he had entered the midshipman's berth, and was made acquainted with his messmates.”

3. (broadly)Chiefly in wide berth: a sufficient space in the water for a ship or other vessel to lie at anchor or manoeuvre without getting in the way of other vessels, or colliding into rocks or the shore.

   “Passengers their births are clapt in, / Some to grumble, some to spew. / 'Hey day! call you that a cabin? / Why 'tis hardly three feet square; / Not enough to stow Queen Mab in— / Who the deuce can harbour there?'”

   “Just at this moment, in crossing the forecastle, one of the men saw a light below, and looking down the scuttle, saw the watch all out of their berths, and afoul of one poor fellow, dragging him out of his berth, and shaking him, to wake him out of a nightmare.”

   “All dressed and dusty as he is, Jonah throws himself into his berth, and finds the little state-room ceiling almost resting on his forehead. […] The lamp alarms and frightens Jonah; as lying in his berth his tormented eyes roll round the place, and this thus far successful fugitive finds no refuge for his restless glance.”

   “By what I then thought to be great good luck I had succeeded in getting a three-berth cabin for myself and my little boy alone—Nos. 45, 46, 47—on the starboard side of the ship.”

4. (broadly)Chiefly in wide berth: a sufficient space in the water for a ship or other vessel to lie at anchor or manoeuvre without getting in the way of other vessels, or colliding into rocks or the shore.

   “He was now a temperate man for life, and capable of filling any berth in a ship, and many a high station there is on shore which is held by a meaner man.”

5. (broadly)An assigned place for a person in (chiefly historical) a horse-drawn coach or other means of transportation, or (military) in a barracks.

   “[W]ith worldly wisdom, the first comer hastens to secure the best birth in the coach for himself, and to make the most convenient arrangement for his baggage before the arrival of his competitor.”

6. (broadly)A bunk or other bed for sleeping on in a caravan, a train, etc.

   “Some passengers boarded the train there and I heard a woman's low tones, a southern voice, rich and full. Then quiet again. Every nerve was tense: time passed, perhaps ten minutes, possibly half an hour. Then, without the slightest warning, as the train rounded a curve, a heavy body was thrown into my berth.”

   “It is realised that the old Pullman standard sleeper, with its convertible "sections", each containing upper and lower berths, and with no greater privacy at night than the curtains drawn along both sides of a middle aisle, has had its day.”

7. (broadly)A place for a vehicle on land to park.
8. (figuratively)An appointment, job, or position, especially one regarded as comfortable or good.

   “He vvas a Surgeon, and they called him Doctor; but he vvas not employed in the Sloop as a Surgeon, but vvas going to Berbadoes to get a Birth, as the Sailors call it.”

   “[Y]ou have got a good vvarm birth here; but vve ſhall beat up your quarters. Here, Lucy, Moll, come to the fire, and dry your trumpery.”

   “Howsomever, I 'll do the very best I can in gettin' Tom a good berth; as to my treatin' on him bad, you need n't be a grain afeard.”

   “How glad I am that he has got a snug berth in the City! His company really prospers, I am happy to think, unlike some companies you know of, Pen.”

9. (figuratively)Chiefly in wide berth: a sufficient space for manoeuvring or safety.

   “The road was very narrow, with no opportunity of giving the apparent phantom what seamen call a wide birth.”

   “Sir Barnes Newcome, for fear of consequences that I should deplore, I recommend you to keep a wide berth of me, sir.”

   “[W]e / Thought it but wise to keep the open sea / And give to warring lands a full wide berth; […]”

   “Tarzan had been wont to traverse the Rue Maule on his way home at night. Because it was very quiet and very dark it reminded him more of his beloved African jungle than did the noisy and garish streets surrounding it. If you are familiar with your Paris you will recall the narrow, forbidding precincts of the Rue Maule. If you are not, you need but ask the police about it to learn that in all Paris there is no street to which you should give a wider berth after dark.”

10. (figuratively, slang)A proper place for a thing.

    “[T]he Maſter-builders appoint the VVorking or Converting, as they call it, of every Piece of Timber, and give to the other Head-vvorkmen or Foremen, their Moulds for the ſquaring and cutting out of every Piece, and placing it in its proper Byrth (ſo they call it) in the Ship that is in Building; […]”

11. (figuratively)A position or seed in a tournament bracket.
12. (figuratively)A position on a field of play.

    “Olivier Giroud then entered the fray and [Theo] Walcott reverted to his more familiar berth on the right wing, quickly creating his side's fifth goal by crossing for Giroud to send a plunging header into the net from close range.”

verb

1. (transitive)To bring (a ship or other vessel) into a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.1); also, to provide a berth for (a vessel).

   “"The Henery," being let loose to drive up the river of herself, did run up as high as the bridge, and broke down some of the rails of the bridge, and so back again with the tide, and up again, and then berthed himself so well as no pilot could ever have done better; […]”

   “Further west, in Pembrokeshire, the Esso Petroleum Co. refinery at Milford Haven, opened last November, is designed to berth the world's largest tankers and to process, initially, 4,500,000 tons of crude oil a year.”

2. (specifically, transitive)To bring (a ship or other vessel) into a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.1); also, to provide a berth for (a vessel).
3. (broadly, transitive)To assign (someone) a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.3 or etymology 1, noun sense 2.2) or place to sleep on a vessel, a train, etc.
4. (figuratively, transitive)To provide (someone) with a berth (noun etymology 1, noun sense 3.1) or appointment, job, or position.
5. (intransitive, reflexive)Of a vessel: to move into a berth.
6. (broadly, intransitive)Of a person: to occupy a berth.

   “The cabin-boy Ransome […] came in at times from the round-house, where he berthed and served, now nursing a bruised limb in silent agony, now raving against the cruelty of Mr. Shuan.”

7. (archaic, historical)Chiefly in shipbuilding: to construct (a ship or part of it) using wooden boards or planks; to board, to plank.

   “VVhen you haue berthed or brought her [the ship] vp to the planks, vvhich are thoſe thicke timbers vvhich goeth fore and aft on each ſide, vvhereon doth lie the beames of the firſt Orlop, vvhich is the firſt floore to ſupport the plankes doth couer the Hovvle, thoſe are great croſſe timbers, that keepes the ſhip ſides aſunder, the maine beame is euer next the maine maſt, […]”