sandcastle
Americannoun
-
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
Swimming, sailing, even just building a sandcastle - the ocean benefits our physical and mental wellbeing.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2024
The new Apple TV+ special recreates that first meeting, with Franklin returning Charlie Brown’s errant beach ball and then the two building a sandcastle together.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 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
“So what should we do? You want to build a sandcastle with a moat? See how long the castle can last? Deepest moat in Cape history.”
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
That way, you can build realistic blueprints in the sky rather than sandcastles.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 21, 2026
Waves crashed against the tiered steps, children wearing coats built sandcastles, and one woman took off her Chelsea boots and dug her bare feet into the sand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 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.
