sandcastle
Americannoun
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sandcastles
plural
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a small castlelike structure made of wet sand, as by children at a beach.
-
a plan or idea with little substance.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sandcastle
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They’re working hard to make each square inch explorable, creating, at the time of the interview, a sandcastle to be hidden in the restroom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2025
TORRES: I equate it to building a sandcastle where you don’t really start out with a blueprint.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2024
There's laughter, sandcastle construction and everyone - whether they're a captain of industry or a truck driver - is enjoying the great embrace of the ocean.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2023
But it also should have meant that the court rejected her case out of hand since it's built on a sandcastle of lies.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2023
Bruno’s too-enthusiastic tail knocks a plastic pail over in the sand, and accidentally levels an entire sandcastle.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
That way, you can build realistic blueprints in the sky rather than sandcastles.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 21, 2026
Here, the Edgar can be seen chasing butterflies through Griffith Park, building sandcastles on Zuma Beach and falling asleep during Mass at Our Lady Queen of Angels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2023
"We just got here, so I'll look at the menu, get in the water, build some sandcastles with baby girl and then circle back in about an hour."
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2023
There was the beach, where people swam, and surfed, and built sandcastles, and then the vast expanses offshore, which you had to get in a boat to see.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2022
Megan liked to build sandcastles and collect shells and play sand tennis and read magazines.
From "The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies
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.
