sea wall

American

noun

a strong wall or embankment to prevent the encroachments of the sea, serve as a breakwater, etc.

sea wall British

noun

a wall or embankment built to prevent encroachment or erosion by the sea or to serve as a breakwater

"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

Other Word Forms

sea-walled

adjective

Etymology

Origin of sea wall

before 1000; Middle English; Old English: cliff over the sea

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:

sea wall

Bundy and the mayor led a driving tour of the shattered coastline, stopping at one property where the destruction of a home revealed a sea wall below with a pre-existing sinkhole.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026

He pointed out the newly elevated sea wall, which provided both a scenic walking path and a bulwark against coastal flooding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

"If I was lucky, my partner would appear, hidden on the sea wall in Southsea somewhere, discreetly waving as I departed for eight months."

From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2025

They were among at least a dozen people watching swells from the sea wall.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2024

Only the occasional bleat of the gull gave me a picture of that bird, for I had heard and seen them many times around the sea wall in Willemstad.

From "The Cay" by Theodore Taylor

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023