Meaning & use
berth
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Meanings
nouncountable
A narrow bed built into a ship, train or caravan.
Grammar: Has a plural: berths.
Patterns
- a berth on a ship
I slept in the top berth of the sleeper train.
The cabin has two berths and a tiny desk.
He reserved a berth on the overnight ferry.
nouncountable
A place in a harbor where a ship stops and ties up.
Grammar: Often used with a ship name or a number: berth number five.
Patterns
- a berth at a port
The cruise ship found a berth at the end of the pier.
Berth fees are higher in summer.
The tanker waited a day for an empty berth.
nouncountableinformal
A position, job or place in a team or competition.
Grammar: Informal, often in sports.
Patterns
- a berth in something
She won a berth in the national team.
The club secured a berth in the final.
He earned a berth on the crew.
verbtransitive or intransitivetechnical
To bring a ship to a place in a harbor, or to arrive at one.
Grammar: A ship can berth, or the captain can berth the ship.
Patterns
- berth at a place
The ferry will berth at six o'clock.
The captain berthed the ship carefully.
Several yachts berthed in the marina.
Word forms
| plural | berths |
|---|---|
| third person singular | berths |
| past tense | berthed |
| past participle | berthed |
| -ing form | berthing |
Common combinations
- give a wide berth
- I gave the angry dog a wide berth.
- lower berth
- She took the lower berth on the train.
- secure a berth
- They secured a berth at the tournament.
- berth at the dock
- The ship has a berth at the dock.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bunk
- Bunk is a simple bed, often one of two stacked, while berth is a bed on a ship or train.
- mooring
- Mooring is the place or the ropes where a boat is tied, with no suggestion of a bed.
- slot
- Slot, for a position, is informal and more mechanical than berth.
- spot
- Spot is casual and used for any place on a team.
Word family
Commonly confused: berth or birth?
berth vs birth
Birth and berth sound alike. Birth is coming into the world, while berth is a bed or a place for a ship.
Practice
I saw a snake, so I gave it a wide ____.
Choose one answer.
To give a wide berth is to keep well away from something. Birth is only a sound-alike, and the others do not form the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “berth”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.