Definition of "Y"

He had sat next to Cindy returning from the Y and smelled the chlorine on her. A sodden Band-Aid had clung by a few lingering bits of stickum to her knee.

2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections

Of course, the audience up here at the Bronx “Y” will probably be a little parochial, but if I make good in the lecture, I might one day end up speaking down at the Lex. Ave. “Y” where great thinkers like Norman Mailer and Seymour Krim are always airing their views.

a. 1969, John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, Penguin, published 1981

When a 50ish woman at my Y learned that I was about to turn 80, she exclaimed, “80 is the new 60, and you set a great example for the rest of us!”

2021 May 17, Jane E. Brody, “A Birthday Milestone: Turning 80!”, in The New York Times‎

Amsterdam, Hol. fortif. on the gulf Y and the Amstel river, 27,000 ho. in the town, nearly as many in the suburbs; 210,000 inh. 1000 rp. 50,000 lm. 6000 sailors; well built, many canals, ground very damp and marshy, very clean streets, […]

1813, William Müller, D. P., Topographical and Military Description of Germany and the Surrounding Country, 2nd edition, London: T. Egerton, pages 4–5