shoreline
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of shoreline
Explanation
The shoreline is the place where a large body of water, like an ocean, lake, or river, meets the land. There are a lot of fun beaches along the Atlantic shoreline. You can use the noun shoreline to talk about the strip that marks the boundary between land and water, whether it's at the edge of an ocean, sea, lake, or river. While the word "coast" refers specifically to the ocean, shoreline or shore can be used for any body of water. The word was first coined in the mid-1800's by geographers, and its root is the Germanic schor, "shore, coast, or headland."
Vocabulary lists containing shoreline
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:
The nonprofit has long maintained that the land — reportedly the last undeveloped sliver of Big Bear Lake’s shoreline — represents critical foraging habitat for the eagles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
And it’s not by accident that coastal habitats are aggressively protected and most of the shoreline is free of mega resorts and architectural clutter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
As Rhode Island clinched statehood and grew, the principle of shoreline access remained core to its identity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
It is not the first time, however, that such mysterious objects have been spotted on Australia's shoreline.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
For they were leaving the shoreline now, and their course was taking them out over a wide bay thirty or forty miles across.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
The sun hangs in the middle of the sky as I drive toward one of the most rapidly changing shorelines in California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
By examining PCF debris collected from shorelines across Japan, they found that very little fertilizer plastic returns to land through rivers.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 19, 2026
People lingering at night along the shorelines of a small, affluent city north of Miami have been startled lately when they look up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
From its sun-drenched interiors and sweeping views to its resort-style outdoor spaces and unmatched location, every corner of this estate celebrates the art of lakeside living along one of North Carolina’s most treasured shorelines.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 20, 2025
A tugboat made its way down the river, causing the water to crash into the rocks along the shorelines.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
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.
