BELAY is a valid Scrabble word — 10 points
Yes. BELAY is accepted by every list we check: Collins, the North American lists and Words with Friends. It scores 10 points in Scrabble and 11 in Words with Friends.
Which word lists accept BELAY?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Valid |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Valid |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Valid |
Word power: 35 / 100
Our own measure of how useful BELAY is to know. It scores 10 from 5 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 5.8% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for BELAY
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
belaysChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How BELAY scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in BELAY, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| b | 1 | 2 |
| e | 1 | 12 |
| l | 1 | 4 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
| y | 1 | 2 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 43,569.
What does BELAY mean in Scrabble?
verb
nautical
To secure a rope by winding it around a cleat, pin, or fixed point; also, to protect a climbing partner by controlling the rope through such an anchor.
On a ship, a sailor makes a line fast by looping it several times around a fitting on deck, rather than tying a formal knot, so it can be released quickly if needed. Sailors also shout belay as a command meaning stop or cancel, as in belay that order, when an instruction just given should not be carried out after all. Rock climbers borrowed the nautical practice, so that a partner uses a device or anchor to catch a falling companion and keep the rope under control at all times. Across both settings, belay always centres on holding a line firmly so that whatever it supports stays safely in place.
How BELAY is used
Belay is used literally in sailing and climbing for securing a rope, and informally as a command meaning stop or cancel.
- The sailor moved quickly to belay the loose line.
- Belay that last order, the captain shouted.
- She learned to belay her climbing partner before her first real ascent.
- He belayed the rope around the cleat before releasing the sail.
- The instructor checked that everyone knew how to belay safely.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of BELAY and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Anagrams of BELAY
The 5 tiles of BELAY in a different order — 1 found.
Words starting with BELAY
5 longer words begin with BELAY.
Shorter words from the letters in BELAY
Showing 40 of 41. See all in the Word Finder
Common questions about BELAY
- Is BELAY valid in Words with Friends?
- Yes. Words with Friends accepts BELAY, where it scores 11 points. That game keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries.
- How many points is BELAY worth?
- BELAY is worth 10 points in Scrabble and 11 points in Words with Friends.
- What does BELAY mean?
- To secure a rope by winding it around a cleat, pin, or fixed point; also, to protect a climbing partner by controlling the rope through such an anchor.
- What letters can be added to BELAY?
- BELAY takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of BELAY:
Open BELAY in the Word Finder