beach

1 of 2

noun

1
: shore pebbles : shingle
2
a
: a shore of a body of water covered by sand, gravel, or larger rock fragments
b
: a seashore area

beach

2 of 2

verb

beached; beaching; beaches

transitive verb

1
: to run or drive ashore
beaching the landing craft in the assault
The storm damaged and beached half the fleet.
2
: to strand on or as if on a beach
a beached shark

Examples of beach in a Sentence

Noun We spent the day at the beach. she loves walking along the beach, looking for shells that the waves cast up Verb The pirates beached the ship on the island.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The exterior decks are nothing to sneeze at, either, with a Jacuzzi on the sundeck, a beach club at the stern that spans the full beam, and a plush lounge in the foredeck. Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 15 Apr. 2024 The play is set at a beach house inhabited by a group of wacky vacationers. Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024 The case is compact and small, allowing these to be stored easily at home or brought to neighbors’ houses, the beach, on road trips, or even flights. Lauren Finney Harden, Southern Living, 15 Apr. 2024 Shoppers use them on patios and also bring them along to beaches, parks, and poolside hangs. Clara McMahon, Peoplemag, 13 Apr. 2024 Find a military history section, lots of recommendations and great options for beach reads. Abby Hamblin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Apr. 2024 In Washington, President Joe Biden cut short a weekend trip to his beach house in Delaware to return to the White House. Josef Federman and Jon Gambrell, Quartz, 13 Apr. 2024 The clip presumably shows scenes from back home, with children running around the beach that evoke memories from Tems’ childhood. Heran Mamo, Billboard, 15 Apr. 2024 The legislation, House Bill 1365, prohibits municipalities from allowing people to sleep or camp in public places, such as parks and on the beach. Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald, 3 Apr. 2024
Verb
The island’s wide, open beaches were perfect for careening hulls, beaching ships and listing them to one side to scrape off the foul barnacles and shipworms that infest the tropical Caribbean. Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024 No one else had beached their boat and swam toward me as alpine runoff deadened their limbs. Maggie Slepian, Longreads, 2 Apr. 2024 In 2019, a fin whale beached itself along the Gulf of California in Mexico. Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 18 Mar. 2024 On Sunday morning, the Venice Police Department announced that the local beach Service Club Park would be closed after a 44-foot-long male sperm whale had beached itself on a sandbar, according to the City of Venice. Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 11 Mar. 2024 The whale was beached about 50 yards from shore near Service Club Park in Venice, the city said in a statement posted on social media. Stephen Sorace, Fox News, 10 Mar. 2024 Earth’s magnetic field wavered, and living things were bombarded by cosmic rays, confounding the navigational senses of turtles and porpoises, which beached themselves en masse. Zach St. George, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024 Santa Barbara County beaches along the South Coast will be hit with 7- to 12-foot waves and in some areas 15- to 20-foot sets along west-facing beaches near Point Conception, according to forecasts. Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 30 Dec. 2023 Waves in the 7-to-10-foot range will begin pounding San Diego County beaches early Sunday, likely adding to the widespread coastal erosion the region experienced in recent weeks from a series of powerful winter storms, the National Weather Service said. Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'beach.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

origin unknown

Verb

verbal derivative of beach entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1535, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1799, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of beach was circa 1535

Dictionary Entries Near beach

Cite this Entry

“Beach.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beach. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

beach

1 of 2 noun
: a sandy or gravelly part of the shore of a body of water

beach

2 of 2 verb
: to run or drive ashore
beach a boat

More from Merriam-Webster on beach

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