Beach Definition
bēch
beached, beaches
noun
A nearly level stretch of pebbles and sand beside a sea, lake, etc., often washed by high water; sandy shore; strand.
Webster's New World
The sand or pebbles on a shore.
American Heritage
An area of shore as a place for swimming, sunbathing, etc.
Webster's New World
The zone above the water line at a shore of a body of water, marked by an accumulation of sand, stone, or gravel that has been deposited by the tide or waves.
American Heritage
The shore of a body of water, especially when sandy or pebbly.
Wiktionary
verb
To run, haul, or bring ashore.
Beached the rowboat in front of the cabin; hooked a big bluefish but was unable to beach it.
American Heritage
To ground (a boat, whale, etc.) on or as if on a beach.
Webster's New World
To cause (a whale or other sea animal) to be unable to swim free from a beach.
American Heritage
To run or be hauled ashore.
We beached near the palm trees.
American Heritage
To be stranded on a beach. Used of sea animals.
American Heritage
adjective
Appropriate for the beach or sunbathing; specif., designating or of a novel, etc. regarded as entertaining and easy to read.
Webster's New World
Origin of Beach
-
From Middle English bache, bæcche (“bank, sandbank”), from Old English bæċe, beċe (“beck, brook, stream”), from Proto-Germanic *bakiz (“brook”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰog- (“flowing water”). Cognate with Dutch beek (“brook, stream”), German Bach (“brook, stream”), Swedish bäck (“stream, brook, creek”). More at batch, beck.
From Wiktionary
Perhaps Middle English beche stream from Old English bece
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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