beach
noun
an expanse of sand or pebbles along a shore.
beach
1 American
[beech]
/ bitʃ /
noun
-
beaches
plural
verb (used with object)
-
beaches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
beached,
past participle, past
-
beaching
present participle
-
Nautical. to haul or run onto a beach.
We beached the ship to save it.
-
to make inoperative or unemployed.
- Synonyms:
- ground
Beach
2
American
[beech]
/ bitʃ /
noun
-
Alfred Ely, 1826–96, U.S. editor, publisher, and inventor.
-
Amy Marcey Cheney 1867–1944, U.S. composer and pianist.
-
Moses Yale, 1800–68, U.S. newspaper publisher.
-
Rex Ellingwood 1877–1949, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.
-
Sylvia Woodbridge, 1887–1962, U.S. bookseller and publisher in France.
beach
British
/ biːtʃ /
noun
verb
beach
Scientific
/ bēch /
Synonym Usage
See shore 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
beachsimple
-
beachessimple
-
have beachedperfect
-
has beachedperfect
-
am beachingprogressive
-
are beachingprogressive
-
is beachingprogressive
-
have been beachingperfect progressive
-
has been beachingperfect progressive
Past
-
beachedsimple
-
had beachedperfect
-
was beachingprogressive
-
were beachingprogressive
-
had been beachingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing beach
"maggie and milly and molly and may"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Some of these impacts may be moderate to significant beach erosion and shallow flooding of normal dry beaches and walkways.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2026
My estimate is closer to $200,000, which includes $45,000 for travel, $18,000 for dining and entertainment, and the rest for the beach.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 12, 2026
You can drag it to the bath, the pool or a sandy beach without dread.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2026
Mary, from Wexford, said she and her children found the turtle while walking on a beach near Castlegregory on the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry after an Atlantic storm.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Back and forth, Duane swam from the Shipwreck to the beach, pulling the Wreck-less by a rope that he held between his teeth.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Growing up in the small town of North Myrtle Beach, S.C., that dream led her to a career in modeling before she and a friend headed to Hollywood, driving a 20-foot U-Haul truck.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2026
“The focus is right-sizing. Clients want to know what’s necessary, what’s a true ‘benefit,’ and what might benefit the insurance company more,” said Rosalyn Kemp, founder of Chestnut Beach Wealth, a fee-only financial planner.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 12, 2026
Today, the 44-year-old with a high-school education is living in a Mediterranean-style house in Miami Beach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026
The formula made them rich, enabling the family, which had added a third daughter, to move from Long Island to a home on a half-acre plot in Miami Beach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026
Sure enough, in the distance along the misty shore of Briny Beach there could be seen a tall figure striding toward the Baudelaire children.
From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket
“Some of these impacts may be moderate to significant beach erosion and shallow flooding of normal dry beaches and walkways.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2026
“We should see ... surf heights in some of those west-facing beaches in that 8- to 12-foot range, some areas may be a little bit lower,” Lewis said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2026
“We should see ... surf heights in some of those west-facing beaches in that eight-to-12-foot range, some areas may be a little bit lower,” Lewis said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2026
Its beaches and sand dunes sit alongside historic coastal cities such as Mogadishu, whose culture reflects centuries of Indian Ocean trade.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026
During the days, he walked the circumference of the island and found nothing of interest—unless you liked beaches and endless sea in every direction.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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
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
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
Grandma returned to the stove, leaving Mrs. Weidenbach beached by the kitchen table, where she overlooked Mary Alice and me.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
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
“It doesn’t cut a dent in their population,” he said of the beaching phenomenon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2024
But besides beating seasonal crowds, winter beaching has another leg up on summer: storm watching.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 20, 2024
But authorities and researchers, baffled by the behavior, feared that a mass beaching was imminent.
From New York Times ● Jul. 26, 2023
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
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