Cay

//kiː// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A small, low island largely made of sand or coral.
  2. 2
    Obsolete spelling of quay (“structure for loading vessels”). alt-of, obsolete

    "But (by your leave) I had a hard welcome in my landing, for bidding farewell to the Turkes, who had kindly used me three dayes, in our passage from the Castles, the Master of the boate saying adio Christiano: There were foure French Runnagates standing on the Cay; who hearing these words, fell desperatly upon me blaspheming the Name of Jesus, and throwing me to the ground, beate me most cruelly: […]"

  3. 3
    a coral reef off the southern coast of Florida wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
keyaitarchipelagoatollbarcontinental island

Example

More examples

"We spent the afternoon snorkeling around the tiny cay, surrounded by crystal-clear waters and colorful fish."

Etymology

Etymology 1

] From Spanish cayo, from Taíno.

Etymology 2

See quay.

Related phrases

Bellamy CayBig Ambergris CayBig CayCas CayCinnamon CayCongo CayCotton CayDellis CayDiamond CayDragon CayElbow CayFort George Cay

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.