Jump To:

• beach
  beach

  noun

  an expanse of sand or pebbles along a shore.
• Beach
  Beach

  noun

  Alfred Ely, 1826–96, U.S. editor, publisher, and inventor.

beach

¹ American  

[beech] / bitʃ /

noun

beaches plural

1. an expanse of sand or pebbles along a shore.

2. the part of the shore of an ocean, sea, large river, lake, etc., washed by the tide or waves.

   Synonyms:

   littoral, strand, seashore, coast

3. the area adjacent to a seashore.

   We're vacationing at the beach.

---

verb (used with object)

beaches, present (3rd person singular) beached, past participle, past beaching present participle

1. Nautical. to haul or run onto a beach.

   We beached the ship to save it.

2. to make inoperative or unemployed.

   Synonyms:

   ground

Beach ² American  

[beech] / bitʃ /

noun

1. Alfred Ely, 1826–96, U.S. editor, publisher, and inventor.

2. Amy Marcey Cheney 1867–1944, U.S. composer and pianist.

3. Moses Yale, 1800–68, U.S. newspaper publisher.

4. Rex Ellingwood 1877–1949, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.

5. Sylvia Woodbridge, 1887–1962, U.S. bookseller and publisher in France.

---

beach British  

/ biːtʃ /

noun

1. an extensive area of sand or shingle sloping down to a sea or lake, esp the area between the high- and low-water marks on a seacoast

---

verb

1. to run or haul (a boat) onto a beach

beach Scientific  

/ bēch /

1. The area of accumulated sand, stone, or gravel deposited along a shore by the action of waves and tides. Beaches usually slope gently toward the body of water they border and have a concave shape. They extend landward from the low water line to the point where there is a distinct change in material (as in a line of vegetation) or in land features (as in a cliff).

---

Synonym Usage

See shore ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• beachless
  adjective
• unbeached
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• beaches
  plural

Participles

• beaching
  present
• beached
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• beach
  simple
• beaches
  simple
• have beached
  perfect
• has beached
  perfect
• am beaching
  progressive
• are beaching
  progressive
• is beaching
  progressive
• have been beaching
  perfect progressive
• has been beaching
  perfect progressive

Past

• beached
  simple
• had beached
  perfect
• was beaching
  progressive
• were beaching
  progressive
• had been beaching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will beach
  simple
• will have beached
  perfect
• will be beaching
  progressive
• will have been beaching
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of beach

First recorded in 1525–35; of obscure origin

Explanation

You know that wide, flat patch of sand that leads down to the sea, or maybe even the lake? That's a beach, one of the most beautiful places in the world. During a long, stormy winter, a beach can erode and move. The word beach can also be used more generally to describe a town or vacation spot along the ocean or sea. In New Jersey, they call it the shore. But in lots of other places, people say they're going to the beach when they mean they are taking a trip to the seaside for vacation. Of course, if you beach your boat, you might not be overjoyed: that means you've run it aground, usually on a choice pile of sand.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beach Beach beaches beached beaching

Bravo’s newest franchise features fights on the beach, a getaway at a historic Breakers mansion, plus a local beach snack known as “pizza chips.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Rode my bike 21 miles on the beach yesterday in 95-degree weather.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

His family took shelter on a beach in nearby Arcachon before a relative came to their aid with a place to stay.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

“The Merry Wives of Windsor Cove,” a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” at UC Irvine’s New Swan Shakespeare Festival, relocates the comedy to a Southern California beach town in the 1950s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

That’s the only benefit of living out of a suitcase meant for the beach.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Why does Kent, who was born in Bellflower and raised in Huntington Beach, still have the truck?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

Euroz Hartleys is more optimistic than the market about Beach Energy’s dividends in FY26.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

People have described how bystanders rushed to the water to help, including teenagers who worked at the nearby Seaview Beach Diner and an off-duty paramedic.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

Thirteen of the 14 dogs seized by the Newport Beach Beach Animal Control were puppies, including two 6-week-old golden retriever puppies that were in critical condition because of untreated parasites.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Truth is, we need him—plus when it comes to water, he’s the person to know; without him, I’m not sure we’d have the rations to safely make the journey down to Laguna Beach and back.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

"Other people have been sleeping in schools and warehouses and the beaches have had people just waiting for the go ahead," Morrison added.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

"Bulldozers on the beaches have already damaged the nesting sites of loggerhead turtles, which are threatened with extinction," Olsi Nika, a marine biologist who heads the NGO EcoAlbania, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

Outside the stadium, bars, beaches and Metro stations became theaters of drama and triumph, culminating in hours-long revelry all throughout the city at after-parties and postgame celebrations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

We didn’t have whales, just freshwater fish like alewifes, which stunk up the beaches with annual die-offs that occurred in huge numbers.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

We'd land on the Normandy beaches, drive south, lie about our ages, and work in vineyards or ski chalets.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

What’s more depressing is that a research biologist interviewed by KING-TV, Seattle’s NBC affiliate, stated that the beached whales people have encountered likely represent only a quarter to a fifth of the total death toll.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

The image of the beached horse first lodged in Nolan’s mind over 20 years ago when he was in the running to direct a movie based on another Homeric epic, “The Iliad.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Vonk and his team ensure the country is ready for extreme scenarios: a drought meaning all inland shipping is beached or a devastating storm surge.

From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025

Tasmania's Department of Natural Resources and Environment said 157 false killer whales had beached near Arthur River, in the island's north west.

From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2025

Osh had told me many times—so often that it had become like a bedtime story—how he’d found me in an old skiff that had beached itself on the wrack line overnight.

From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk

A humpback whale rescued after beaching itself in Germany has been found dead near a Danish island.

From BBC ● May 16, 2026

A humpback whale that underwent a rescue operation in Germany two weeks ago after beaching itself there has been found dead near a Danish island, officials said Saturday.

From Barron's ● May 16, 2026

These beaching events confront us with a little-understood but essential facet of marine ecology — and may become more common as the oceans warm.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2024

But besides beating seasonal crowds, winter beaching has another leg up on summer: storm watching.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 20, 2024

Carefully, we inched the Miss Amanda around the sandbar without beaching her until we were directly above the deep water.

From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings

Related Words

• coast
• shore
• waterfront