coast

American  

[kohst] / koʊst /

noun

• coasts
  plural

1. the land next to the sea; seashore.

   the rocky coast of Maine.

   Synonyms:

   littoral, seaside, strand

2. the region adjoining it.

   They live on the coast, a few miles from the sea.

3. a hill or slope down which one may slide on a sled.

4. a slide or ride down a hill or slope, as on a sled.

5. Obsolete. the boundary or border of a country.

6. Informal. the Coast, (in the U.S. and Canada) the region bordering on the Pacific Ocean; the West Coast.

   I'm flying out to the Coast next week.

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verb (used without object)

• coasts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• coasted,
  past participle,  past
• coasting
  present participle

1. to slide on a sled down a snowy or icy hillside or incline.

2. to descend a hill or the like, as on a bicycle, without using pedals.

3. to continue to move or advance after effort has ceased; keep going on acquired momentum.

   We cut off the car engine and coasted for a while.

4. to advance or proceed with little or no effort, especially owing to one's actual or former assets, as wealth, position, or name, or those of another.

   The actor coasted to stardom on his father's name.

5. to sail along, or call at the various ports of, a coast.

6. Obsolete. to proceed in a roundabout way.

verb (used with object)

• coasts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• coasted,
  past participle,  past
• coasting
  present participle

1. to cause to move along under acquired momentum.

   to coast a rocket around the sun.

2. to proceed along or near the coast of.

3. Obsolete. to keep alongside of (a person moving).

4. Obsolete. to go by the side or border of.

idioms

1. the coast is clear, no danger or impediment exists; no persons are in the path or vicinity.

   The boys waited until the coast was clear before climbing over the wall.

coast British  

/ kəʊst /

noun

1. 1. the line or zone where the land meets the sea or some other large expanse of water

   2. ( in combination )

      coastland

2. the seaside

3. 1. a slope down which a sledge may slide

   2. the act or an instance of sliding down a slope

4. obsolete borderland or frontier

5. informal the obstacles or dangers are gone

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verb

1. to move or cause to move by momentum or force of gravity

2. (intr) to proceed without great effort

   to coast to victory

3. to sail along (a coast)

Usage

What does coast mean? As a noun, coast most commonly refers to the land next to the sea or ocean, or the region near it. As a verb, coast often means to move along smoothly or without much effort, but it is used differently in different contexts. Coast has many specific definitions, but they are all related to one of these two main meanings. Example: During our bike ride, we coasted down the mountain road, where you can see almost the entire coast of the island.

Synonym Usage

See shore ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• coastal
  adjective
• coastally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• coasts
  plural

Participles

• coasting
  present
• coasted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• coast
  simple
• coasts
  simple
• have coasted
  perfect
• has coasted
  perfect
• am coasting
  progressive
• are coasting
  progressive
• is coasting
  progressive
• have been coasting
  perfect progressive
• has been coasting
  perfect progressive

Past

• coasted
  simple
• had coasted
  perfect
• was coasting
  progressive
• were coasting
  progressive
• had been coasting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will coast
  simple
• will have coasted
  perfect
• will be coasting
  progressive
• will have been coasting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of coast

First recorded in 1325–75; (noun) Middle English cost(e), < Anglo-French, Middle French, from Latin costa “rib, side, wall”; (verb) Middle English cost(e)yen, costen, from Anglo-French costeier, Old French costoier, derivative of the noun

Explanation

The noun coast describes the area where the land meets the sea — the seashore. When your mom says, "We're going to the coast," pack your bathing suit, because you'll be near the ocean. Coast also has a verb form that describes an effortless movement, like when you're riding your bike down a hill and you don't have to pedal at all. It can also be used figuratively to describe something that's gained without much difficulty. You might coast to victory in the playoffs when your team wins 8-0 and is never threatened.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

coast coasts coasted coasting

The vessel remains anchored off England's southern coast.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

The Dubai Tower will go from Ningbo, China, to Felixstowe in the U.K., along Russia’s north coast.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

He’s getting in touch with his roots the way dozens of former NFL players are from coast to coast, teaching the game he loves to the latest generation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

In high school, he was a choir kid, and though he can “listen to just about anything,” he prefers “west coast rap.”

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

He pointed to the coast, where a stream was cascading down a grassy slope.

From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown

Northerly winds will be fairly brisk around some coasts, and will make it feel rather cool.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

“WTI can be pulled higher by a strong distillate market since key refiners beyond the East and West coasts that represent about 80% of U.S. capacity are still running virtually full-out.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

County coasts from Wednesday evening through Friday due to the swell.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

Top among them are the United States, where Americans on both coasts enjoy the cocktail hour staple -- but whose interior has yet to be seduced by the spritz.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

The highest population densities of Aborigines were in Australia’s wettest and most productive regions: the Murray-Darling river system of the Southeast, the eastern and northern coasts, and the southwestern corner.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Stalter’s loud, boundary-pushing nepo baby Kayla on “Hacks” was divisive, but she coasted to her first nomination on the wave of goodwill surrounding the show’s final season.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

Sometimes this happens because the studios are trying to capitalize on a moment, like when “The Minecraft Movie” coasted in on the fumes of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”

From Salon ● May 25, 2026

The vehicle had coasted through space but was not in exactly the correct orbit after one of its engines malfunctioned during an initial burn.

From Barron's ● May 22, 2026

Zohran Mamdani coasted to victory in the New York City mayoral race with a platform focused on making the city more affordable.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2025

We coasted past our neighbors’ houses, dumped our bikes in my driveway, left Dad behind.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

Of course, here at MarketWatch, we’d never suggest coasting when you’re on the clock.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

They were a toxic organization coasting on a grand arena and the vapors of memories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

Unified school board member Rocío Rivas looked to be coasting to outright victories.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026

The changes have been targeted at reducing what have been described as "counter-intuitive" driving techniques, such as lifting off and coasting before corners in qualifying to charge the battery.

From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026

I went for a bike ride with June yesterday and laughed while I was coasting down Tanglewood Hill.

From "P.S. I Miss You" by Jen Petro-Roy

Related Words

• bank
• beach
• coastline
• seaboard
• shore
• shoreline