beach

noun

1. 1

   The shore of a body of water, especially when sandy or pebbly.

   Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path[…]. It twisted and turned,[…]and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights. 'Twas the house I'd seen the roof of from the beach.

2. 2

   A horizontal strip of land, usually sandy, adjoining water.

   Up and down, the beach lay empty for miles.

3. 3

   The loose pebbles of the seashore, especially worn by waves; shingle.

4. 4

   Synonym of gravel trap.

5. 5

   A dry, dusty pitch or situation, as though playing on sand.

   I never realised Lincoln was a seaside town. BRIAN LAWS Scunthorpe manager, after losing on a liberally sanded beach of a pitch

   The series was brought to an ironic conclusion when England became hoist by their own petard, as they lost the deciding final Test on a 'beach' of a wicket. Neither side batted well.

6. 6

   Also a form of bitchEuphemistic form of bitch (taboo swear word).

   That beach should be punished!

verb

1. 1

   To run aground on a beach.

   When we finally beached, the land was scarcely less wet than the sea.

2. 2

   To run (something) aground on a beach.

   It seems that some honest mariners of Dover, or Sandwich, or some one of the Cinque Ports, had after a hard chase succeeded in killing and beaching a fine whale which they had originally descried afar off from the shore.

   Great Aías led twelve ships from Sálamis and beached them where Athenians formed for battle.

3. 3

   To run into an obstacle or rough or soft ground, so that the floor of the vehicle rests on the ground and the wheels cannot gain traction.

Forms

plural

beaches

past tense

beached

past participle

beached

present participle

beaching

third person singular

beaches