sandbank

American  

[sand-bangk] / ˈsændˌbæŋk /

Or sand bank

noun

1. a large mass of sand, as on a shoal or hillside.

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sandbank British  

/ ˈsændˌbæŋk /

noun

1. a submerged bank of sand in a sea or river, that may be exposed at low tide

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Etymology

Origin of sandbank

First recorded in 1580–90; sand + bank ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sandbank

SS Montgomery was loaded with 7,000 tonnes of munitions in 1944 and directed to anchor off Sheerness, Kent, but grounded on a sandbank.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

In Bulgaria, a cruise ship got stuck on a sandbank on the Danube.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Last week, 186 passengers had to be brought ashore from a Viking cruise liner that hit a sandbank because of low water levels near the city of Vidin in Bulgaria.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

"Before, we used to pass on the left; now the passage is to the right of the sandbank, and it's very, very narrow," said Daniela Cuoghi, a surveyor for Aipo.

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

As she walked across the sandbank at the edge of the river, though, she felt the weight of the calabash getting greater and greater.

From "The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa" by Alexander Mccall Smith

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