beach
/biːtʃ
/noun
A pebbly or sandy shore, especially by the sea between high- and low-water marks: fabulous sandy beaches...
- Perhaps because of their preference for rocky shores, marine otters have never been found along the sandy beaches of the Atlantic Patagonian coasts.
- Lazy summer days are made to be spent on the gravel flats and sandy beaches along Northern California's Russian River.
- On the beach at Sandy Hook on the New Jersey shore one October there were hundreds of us assembled in the predawn hours, fishing for striped bass.
Synonyms
seaside, seashore, shore, coast, coastline, coastal region, seaboard, foreshore, water's edge, margin;
sands, sand, shingle, (sand) dunes;
lido
dated plage
technical littoral
literary strand
verb [with object]
1Run or haul up (a boat or ship) on to a beach: at the water’s edge a rowing boat was beached...
- The centreboards make it possible to beach the boats, trailer them and get them into very shallow water.
- When the ship was beached, the crew disappeared into the night.
- As the story goes, it was in May 1880 that five young yachtsmen beached their boat at Horseshoe Harbor in Larchmont, New York.
Synonyms
land, reach the shore, run ashore;
ground, be grounded, run aground;
shipwreck, wreck, run on the rocks, be high and dry
1.1(Of an angler) land (a fish) on a beach: he managed to beach a fine trout...
- At last, after some twenty-five minutes, a stunning fish was beached: a fresh-run female steelhead of some fourteen or fifteen pounds.
- I was ready to beach the fish on the bar, which now stood clear of all but the biggest waves.
- I was very fortunate and beached ten sharks of between about 160 lbs and 290 lbs - all estimated weights by Terence, and he is not generous.
Synonyms
catch, capture, land, hook, reel in
1.2 (also be beached) [no object] (Of a whale or similar animal) become stranded out of the water: we don’t know what causes whales to beach...
- The frantic battle against the clock began when locals noticed a pod of whales beached on Aughacasla Strand, on the Dingle Peninsula, at around 10 am.
- Giant whale vertebrae lie beached and bleached on the shore like prehistoric, bone propellers.
- At the time 14 beaked whales became beached on the same day that U.S. Navy destroyers where engaged in a sonar exercise.
Synonyms
make/become stranded, make/become beached, strand, ground, get stuck
stranded, stuck, marooned, high and dry, helpless;
ashore, aground, grounded, stuck fast
1.3Leave (someone) at a loss: competitive procurement seems to have beached several firms...
- Besides, if I was going to allow them to beach me, then this could well be my last chance to work at something that had any real meaning to me.
- Everyone else sells out quickly, leaving a beached shoal of unsold Barts.
- He has certainly beached Smith on the trade union question.
Origin
Mid 16th century (denoting shingle on the seashore): perhaps related to Old English bæce, bece 'brook' (an element that survives in place names such as Wisbech and Sandbach), assuming an intermediate sense 'pebbly river valley'.