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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

Related: ‘I’d rather be on a beach in Bali’: My husband resents my $8 million net worth.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

La Réserve private homes Opening in October on Praslin island, La Réserve Seychelles features six secluded villas, each with a pool, tropical garden, beach access and butler services.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

In August, sand erosion exposed a pair of jetties that were built decades ago to stop beach erosion and protect oceanfront homes near the entrance of Newport Harbor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

Authorities said they responded to a distress call from the boat, which was carrying 105 people, after it departed from Blériot Plage beach in Calais on Monday morning.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

I was still on the beach later that day, gathering limpets.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

Large numbers congregate along the Palm Beach County coast each winter, while smaller groups can be found there throughout the year.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

For the past few years, residents of the tiny Palm Meadows Estates gated community in Boynton Beach, Fla., have gossiped about a string of home purchases that quietly took place in their neighborhood in 2023.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

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

The earthquake occurred 4 miles from Redondo Beach, 4 miles from Hermosa Beach, 4 miles from Manhattan Beach and 5 miles from Palos Verdes Estates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

“News says there’ll be desalination machines along the coast. They’ll have a few up and running down at Laguna Beach by this afternoon.”

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Cycle in the jungle Rent a bike on the largely car-free island of La Digue and ride along jungle paths, ending at world-famous boulder beaches.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Two hurricanes in the Pacific could combine with high tides to cause flooding and erosion at Southern California beaches early next week.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

Loggerhead turtles, external are the most common turtle in the Mediterranean and typically nest on beaches from Greece and Turkey to Israel and Libya.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 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

I hadn’t thought there were any beaches close to town, given the way the land seems to abruptly end and become ocean.

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

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

Allison Janney’s love affair with a beached whale in the series also deserves some Emmy love.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2024

Once, the demons sped up in excitement and swarmed something that looked like a beached carcass on the river-bank.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

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