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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

A couple walking along the beach sprinted out of the way as the small plane dropped down, Griffin said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

A beach hazard statement is in effect through Wednesday afternoon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

A couple who tried to rescue a mother and daughter who drowned have called for more life-saving equipment on the beach where they died.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

At Rosewood’s three hotels located throughout New Zealand, the chefs honor this ethically sourced ethos, working with local purveyors and farmers to source indigenous ingredients like beach spinach, fern fronds and abalone.

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

I was smart enough to wear my beach visor and sunglasses, but I can already feel the tips of my ears starting to bake.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

An uncle and his nephew had a harrowing experience Monday afternoon when the engine on their two-seat plane died, forcing them to make an emergency landing on Huntington State Beach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

California’s Port of Long Beach is considering the construction of a reactor to meet its growing need for electricity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

The two people were pulled from the water off Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall, at about 21:45 BST on Sunday, about 15 minutes after HM Coastguard said rescue personnel were called.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

This past spring, swimming was banned three times at Huntington Beach due to sharks deemed to be aggressive.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

It’s a nice day, and—like everything in Driftaway Beach —the motel isn’t too far, so she must have walked.

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

The iconic D-Day landing beaches in Normandy were on Sunday inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List, marking the culmination of a project launched nearly two decades ago.

From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026

Every year, close to seven million tourists visit the Gironde region, which is popular for its sand dunes and beaches along the Atlantic coast, as well as its vineyards.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Tourists told the BBC of emergency alerts in the middle of the night, desperate drives just metres from six-storey high flames and the sight of people flocking to beaches with their suitcases.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

The crowds were a welcome boon for the bartenders, enlivening what is usually a lull at Joxer Daly’s, which is away from the beaches and beer gardens where customers gather in the summer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

Auster leaned forward, close enough so that Jason could smell rain-soaked fields and hot sandy beaches.

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

The SS Richard Montgomery beached along the Thames Estuary in 1944 eventually sinking with 1,400 tonnes of explosive cargo on board.

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2024

Asha never beached more than half her ships.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

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 authorities and researchers, baffled by the behavior, feared that a mass beaching was imminent.

From New York Times ● Jul. 26, 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

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