Synonyms

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

On another nearby property overlooking an ancient sea wall, excavations revealed two stone quarries "one Roman and the other Phoenician", she said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026

Along the coast £1m is being spent on reinforcing the sea wall at Overstrand in the hope of giving the village's properties another 30 to 40 years.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

You might remember in February 2014 that the track was left dangling precariously high in the air as storms washed away the protecting sea wall.

From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026

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

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