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cove n Cp OED ~ sb1 4 'sheltered recess in a coast' (1590-),
DAE 1 (1616-) for sense 1; DC 2 Nfld (1958) for sense 2.
1 A small bay or inlet of the sea affording shelter to small
craft; the inhabited coastal strip of such an indentation; SETTLEMENT.
1610 Willoughby Papers 17a, 1/2 We arrived (God be praised)
all in safetie in the bay of Conception, in Newfoundland [in the] Harbour here called
Cuperrs Cove. [1663] 1963 YONGE 55 Coming near the shore, we saw a large cove, called
Glam cove, a little kind of harbour where the Renoose boats, when put to leeward, use to
shelter. [1712] 1895 PROWSE 273 Orders sent to admirals and chief planters of every
little cove, to give account of boats and fish and of inhabitants. 1906 DUNCAN 86 He was
a sturdy, fearless giant, was Eli Zitt, of Ruddy Cove. And for this the Cove very
properly called him a 'hard' man. 1951 Nfld & Lab Pilot i, 322 Flowers cove is
entered between Capstan point and a point about a quarter of a mile southward... It is
much frequented by fishing craft, and has regular steamer communication with other
Newfoundland ports.
2 In a seaport town, esp St John's, a
short side street, built on the site of a filled-in stream or cove, running from the main
business street towards the harbour; usu in place-names.
[(1846)
1965 Am Speech xl, 169 Beck's Cove fire-break.] 1887 Telegram Christmas No
10 One touch of his strong hand on her bowed head and he was gone with quick step across
the street, down the passageway, or 'cove,' as the people of Jacksonville call the
entrance to their wharves. [1898] 1905 Nfld Law Reports 69 ... the convenience and
security afforded by the making, opening, widening or altering of the said street,
cross-street, fire-break, cove, road or lane. 1907 Tribune Christmas No 12 [In
Harbour Grace] across the cove we find Mr Thomas Ross, who is conducting a general
business on the premises formerly C W Ross and Company, which in the 'good old times' to
pass without giving a call was almost considered a crime. 1929 BURKE [9] "A Hearty
Welcome to General Higgins": And in the coves in rain or storm / Those Soldiers do their
part, / For small donations in the pot / To cheer some lonely heart. 1936 DEVINE 47 As an
example of ... the backwardness of the system of domestic water supply, he kept a man in
winter and a boy in summer to bring water from the pump in the public cove. 1953 JOB 11
Water Street is saturated with Newfoundland history. From its buildings, its coves
leading down to the wharves... T 731-70 A truckman meant a man that had a horse an' long
cart an' stood in the coves until he was hired.
3 Comb
cove net: small 'seal net' placed in the water near the shore to enmesh migrating
seals.
1977 Inuit Land Use 140 In early fall, jars and
lassies (young square-flipper seals) travel into the bays to feed before freeze-up. The
men hunted them around the coastal islands and in the bays or they set short 'cove' nets,
25 fathoms long, after fishing was over.
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