Nautical. to haul or run onto a beach.
We beached the ship to save it.
to make inoperative or unemployed.
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.
See shore 1.
First recorded in 1525–35; of obscure origin
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.
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One woman was taken off of the beach and up to the bluffs via helicopter, while a second woman was carried up in a Stokes basket, according to county Fire Capt. Kyle Breton.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2026
The Kushner-tied Albanian real-estate project calls for a swath of hotels, villas and other development on a striking spit of beach in the village of Zvërnec.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
The brother of a British toddler who disappeared from an Australian beach has told an inquiry that the family has lived with the consequences of police failure for more than 50 years.
From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026
The culinary equivalent of a beach bonfire right as the sun drops below the horizon.
From Salon • Jun. 9, 2026
One morning, Don Quixote, dressed in full armor, was riding along the beach.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
