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• 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.

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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.

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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

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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).

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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

During the summer, the sheriff’s bomb squad and the naval explosive ordnance disposal unit also responded to the beach to pick up a much more hazardous item, a Super Bazooka round.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

He said it "was like nothing I'd ever spotted on the beach before", having been a fossil hunter for about 10 years.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

"Taxi boat" refers to a dinghy that approaches the beach from the sea to pick up migrants in shallow waters off the beach.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

I’d rather be on a beach in Bali than watching my spouse sit at the computer.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

She towed them all toward the beach, and when she got to the edge of the water, she sank to the bottom with the coconut under her and wouldn’t move.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

As far as The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson was concerned, “Rubber Soul” marked the invention of the album as a long-playing musical format.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

When Gordon Russell from Vero Beach, Fla., had a diamond from Costco appraised, he said that the jeweler thought the stone had come from Tiffany & Co.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

That summer, photos began to emerge of Trump Jr. with 39-year-old Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Long Beach has been working toward this vision since it adopted its bicycle master plan 25 years ago, now with mounting urgency as auto-related fatalities rise.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

It’s funny to think Eddie’s working to stay in Driftaway Beach, while I’m working as hard as possible to leave.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

In Cabo San Lucas, famous for its natural rock arch, the authorities restricted access to the beaches.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Mountainous Yunnan province offers craggy backdrops for wedding photos while the southern island of Hainan has sandy beaches.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

The result is a combination of private and public access: Six public-access trails cross Sea Ranch to on their way to the shoreline, while Sea Ranch residents retain access to several private beaches.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

This Mediterranean city seems to have it all — 300 days of sunshine, miles of beaches, a lively restaurant and nightlife scene, a beautiful and highly walkable historic center, and excellent public transportation.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

I draw some inspiration from beaches I’ve gone to before and imagine a setting not too different from Golden Gardens.

From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day

But I can choose to recognize that some performers, artistic works and brands are simply too big to fail or bury, so they become some version of a beached grey whale’s corpse.

From Salon ● May 14, 2026

At the toe of the bluff, the geotubes stretched out like a beached Leviathan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 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

A minke whale has beached and died at Portstewart Strand in County Londonderry.

From BBC ● May 26, 2025

In the distance a flat-bottomed motorboat lay beached on a strip of sand scarcely wide enough to accommodate it.

From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart

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

A spokesperson from the National Weather Service in Monterey attributed high tides for beaching the bomb.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2024

A pod of nearly 100 pilot whales displayed unusual behavior before beaching themselves in Australia.

From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2023

Once the whales began beaching themselves on the shore, wildlife authorities launched an emergency response effort in a bid to save them.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2023

She could feel the dream shallowing, like a sleek ship beaching on a shoal.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Related Words

• coast
• shore
• waterfront