• Reddish brown; of the color of a chestnut; -- applied to the color of horses. • An inlet of the sea, usually smaller than a gulf, but of the same general character. • A small body of water set off from the main body; as a compartment containing water for a wheel; the portion of a canal just outside of the gates of a lock, etc. • A recess or indentation shaped like a bay. • A principal compartment of the walls, roof, or other part of a building, or of the whole building, as marked off by the buttresses, vaulting, mullions of a window, etc.; one of the main divisions of any structure, as the part of a bridge between two piers. • A compartment in a barn, for depositing hay, or grain in the stalks. • A kind of mahogany obtained from Campeachy Bay. • A berry, particularly of the laurel. • The laurel tree (Laurus nobilis). Hence, in the plural, an honorary garland or crown bestowed as a prize for victory or excellence, anciently made or consisting of branches of the laurel. • A tract covered with bay trees. • To bark, as a dog with a deep voice does, at his game. • To bark at; hence, to follow with barking; to bring or drive to bay; as, to bay the bear. • Deep-toned, prolonged barking. • A state of being obliged to face an antagonist or a difficulty, when escape has become impossible. • To bathe. • A bank or dam to keep back water. • To dam, as water; -- with up or back.