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bay⁴

(bā)

1. A deep, prolonged bark, such as the sound made by hounds.

2. The position of one cornered by pursuers and forced to turn and fight at close quarters: The hunters brought their quarry to bay.

3. The position of having been checked or held at a distance: "He has seen the nuclear threat held at bay for 40 years" (Earl W. Foell).

v. bayed, bay·ing, bays

v.intr.

To utter a deep, prolonged bark.

v.tr.

1. To pursue or challenge with barking: "I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon" (Shakespeare).

2. To express by barking or howling: a mob baying its fury.

3. To bring to bay: "too big for the dogs which tried to bay it" (William Faulkner).

[Middle English, from abai, the cornering of a hunted animal by barking dogs, from Old French, from abaier, to bark; akin to Italian abbaiare and Occitan abaiar, all ultimately of imitative origin. Verb, from Middle English baien, to bark, from abaien, from Old French abaier.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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