sandcastle

[ sand-kas-uhl, -kah-suhl ]

/ ˈsændˌkæs əl, -ˌkɑ səl /

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noun

a small castlelike structure made of wet sand, as by children at a beach.

a plan or idea with little substance.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of sandcastle

First recorded in 1850–55; sand + castle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sandcastle in a sentence

I meet Otis J. the night he arrives at “The Castle,” a West Harlem halfway house for newly-released convicts.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside|Justin Rohrlich|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There is only sand, a white ball, and a flag indicating the hole.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
When the game starts, there is only sand, a white ball, a flag indicating hole 1, and a “0” at the top of the screen.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Crain posted a cash bond of $102.50 apiece shortly before 1:30 P.M., and they returned to the Castle Hotel.
How Martin Luther King Jr. Influenced Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’|Peter Guralnick|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Denton, who speaks in the clipped cadence of the Oxford-educated Brit he is, has built quite a castle.
The Gospel According to Nick Denton—What Next For The Gawker Founder?|Lloyd Grove|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Walls End Castle, when the party broke up, returned to its normal state.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
His presence, also, always graced Walls End Castle at the regulation periods.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Broken crocks should be strewn upon the tray, and on to this is heaped peaty soil mixed with sand.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
You speak with about as little reflection as we might expect from one of those children down there playing in the sand.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
His lordship during the earlier part of his reign never came near Walls End Castle.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills

British Dictionary definitions for sandcastle

sand castle

noun

a mass of sand moulded into a castle-like shape, esp as made by a child on the seashore

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012