shoreline
Americannoun
noun
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.
On Mother’s Day, the San Francisco Bay shoreline could experience highs in the 70s to mid-80s, with Silicon Valley and the inland East Bay valleys reaching the lower 90s.
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2026
After the last Ice Age, rising seas and coastal erosion carved and exposed the towering structures along the shoreline.
From Science Daily • Apr. 30, 2026
The path is a continuous trail, allowing walkers to explore the country's shoreline on foot.
From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026
Seizing Kharg Island and the islands near the mainland would require an amphibious landing on a contested shoreline, among “the hardest operations” a military can attempt, and one that Iran is almost certainly prepared for.
From Salon • Apr. 3, 2026
From that point on, it was just shoreline with trees and a lot of brown cell bush.
From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings
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.
