Coast Guard

noun

1. U.S. Military.,  a military service under the Department of Transportation, which in peacetime enforces maritime laws, saves lives and property at sea, and maintains aids to navigation, and which in wartime may be placed under the Navy Department to augment the navy.

2. (lowercase),  any similar organization for aiding navigation, preventing smuggling, etc.

3. Also called coastguardsman. (lowercase),  a member of any such organization.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Coast Guard¹

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

Coast Guard’s Alameda base, according to reporting from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The Coast Guard and DHS did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

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Coast Guard has for years been leading the effort to cut off the flow of drugs by interdicting boats smuggling cocaine, using sharpshooters to disable engines when crew members fail to stop.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced that a Coast Guard operation called Pacific Viper had seized more than 100,000 pounds of cocaine in the eastern Pacific since early August.

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The Coast Guard plus some 70,000 law enforcement officers External link across Homeland Security are also getting paid through a similar scheme.

Read more on Barron's