Editing Dock (section)

==American English==
In [[American English]], ''dock'' is technically synonymous with ''[[pier]]'' or ''[[wharf]]''—any human-made structure in the water intended for people to be on. However, in modern use, ''pier'' is generally used to refer to structures originally intended for industrial use, such as [[seafood]] processing or [[shipping]], and more recently for [[cruise ship]]s, and ''dock'' is used for almost everything else, often with a qualifier, such as [[ferry dock]], swimming dock, [[ore dock]] and others. However, ''pier'' is also commonly used to refer to wooden or metal structures that extend into the ocean from beaches and are used, for the most part, to accommodate fishing in the ocean without using a boat.

In [[American English]], the term for the water area between piers is ''[[slipway|slip]]''.

===In parts of both the US and Canada===
In the [[cottage country]] of [[Canada]] and the [[United States]], a dock is a wooden platform built over water, with one end secured to the shore.  The platform is used for the boarding and offloading of small boats.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="150px">
Image:Zoom Dock Chicago.jpg|A boat dock on [[Lake Michigan]] in [[Chicago]].
Image:Mohonk Mountain House 2011 Boat Dock Against Reflection of Cliff FRD 3029.jpg|[[Floating dock (jetty)|Floating dock]] at [[Mohonk Mountain House]]
</gallery>