dock

The word “dock” means a structure at a harbour where ships load, unload, or are repaired. In plain terms, most commonly: a place where boats are moored, or to reduce someone's pay/score as punishment.

“Dock” is pronounced dok (/dɑk/ in IPA).

Here is “dock” used in a sentence: “The fishing boats unloaded their catch at the dock every morning.”

The opposite of “dock” — its antonyms — is undock.

Depending on how it is used, “dock” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “dock” comes from Old English. From Old English docce (the plant name); the harbour and courtroom senses developed later in Middle English from related Germanic words for a low or muddy place.

“Dock” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.

“Dock” has 5 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a structure at a harbour where ships load, unload, or are repaired.

In everyday use, a dock is a structure at a harbour where vessels tie up to load, unload, or be repaired, while a pier is a raised platform on pilings that extends out over the water. Strictly, "dock" can also refer to the berth or water space a vessel occupies, which is why ships are said to sit "in dock."

Docking means one spacecraft physically connects to another craft or station in orbit, locking on so that crew, cargo, or power can pass between them. The usage extends the nautical sense of bringing a ship into its place at a dock.

In British courtrooms the dock is the enclosed area where the accused sits during a trial. "In the dock" therefore literally means standing trial, and figuratively it means facing blame or public scrutiny.

"To dock pay" means to deduct part of someone's wages as a penalty, for example for lateness. Whether an employer may lawfully do so depends on the employment contract and local labour law, which in many places limits or regulates such deductions.