at bay
"at-bay" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“at bay” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a prep_phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Unable to come closer; at a distance.
Corpus desk
Index EN-at-bay · at bay · English
at bay · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | at bay |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prep_phrase |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “at bay” in English
Rare enough to double-check
at bay is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aprep_phrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for at bay in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From bay (“excited howling of dogs”). The correct English form is at bay, spelled A-T- -B-A-Y.
Definition
- 1Unable to come closer; at a distance.
- 2Cornered; unable to flee.
- 3Of an animal, especially a docile animal in contrast to a predatory animal which would be blazoned statant: standing, in profile toward dexter, with all four feet on the ground. (If gazing at the viewer, the animal is at gaze.)
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how at bay appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
In that case the enemy himself could have occupied the defences of Corinth and held at bay all the Union troops that arrived.
These two books—of sacred, and secular, passages for memory—will serve other good purposes besides merely occupying vacant hours: they will help to keep at bay many anxious thoughts, worrying thoughts, uncharitable thoughts, unholy thoughts.
Etymology
From bay (“excited howling of dogs”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.