Word Confusion: Beach vs Coast vs Shore

Posted January 16, 2024 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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I confess, I was daydreaming about hanging out at the beach, sipping a margarita, enjoying the eye candy, and I got to wondering about this word confusion beach vs coast vs shore.

A beach is split between a noun that is all about the land above the waterline. As a verb, it’s all about running something up on a beach or hauling something in.

A coast is the land above the waterline as well as movement alongside something or someone and/or moving easily without power.

A shore is legally the land between ordinary high- and low-water marks. It’s also about propping something up, supporting it.

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Exploring Later . . .

You may want to especially explore “Beach versus Beech” as well as other water-related posts such as “Anchorage, Haven, Moorage, and Roadstead“, “Arroyo vs Coulee vs Wadi vs Wash“, “Bay vs Bight vs Cove“, “Bayou vs Bog vs Marsh vs Swamp“, “Born vs Borne vs Bourn“, “Brook vs Burn vs Draw vs Lick“, “Canal vs Impoundment vs Moat vs Reservoir“, “Cay vs Key vs Quay“, “Channel vs Dyke vs Rill“, “Creak versus Creek“, “Dam versus Damn“, “Delta vs Estuary vs Rapids vs Source“, “Dock vs Pier vs Wharf“, “Firth vs Fjord vs Gulf“, “Harbor vs Marina vs Port vs Quay“, “Lakes: Kettle, Loch, Mere, and Oxbow“, “Ocean versus Sea“, “Peer versus Pier“, “River vs Stream vs Tributary“, “Rivulet vs Runnel vs Sike“, “Sea versus See“, “Slew versus Slough“, and “Straight versus Strait“.

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Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Beach	Coast	Shore
Beach Rush Hour, Culdaff, County Donegal, Ireland, by Owen Doody is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Georgraph.org.uk.	California Coast contributed by Ron Clausen is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.	Shored-up House, 2 February 2013, Montaloking, New Jersey, by Sharon Karr of FEMA and is in the public domain, via NARA & DVIDS Public Domain Archive.
Part of Grammar:
Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: beaches Gerund: beaching Third person present verb: beaches Past tense or past participle: beached Present participle: beaching	Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: coasts Gerund: coasting Third person present verb: coasts Past tense or past participle: coasted Present participle: coasting A.k.a. coastline, seashore, shoreline	Adjective ¹; Noun ², ³; Verb, transitive ³, ⁴ Plural for the noun: shores Gerund: shoring Third person present verb: shores Past tense or past participle: shored Archaic past tense ³ Present participle: shoring
Noun: A strip of land covered with sand, pebbles, or small stones at the edge of a body of water, especially by the ocean between high- and low-water marks Verb, intransitive: Fun or haul up (a boat or ship) on to a beach [Of a whale or similar animal] Become stranded out of the water Verb, transitive: Run or haul up (a boat or ship) on to a beach [Of an angler] Land (a fish) on a beach Cause (someone) to suffer a loss	Noun: The part of the land near the sea The edge of the land [North American English; the Coast] The Pacific coast of North America The water near this land A run or movement in or on a vehicle without the use of power A hill or other slope down which one may coast, as on a sled The act of sliding or coasting Slide [Obsolete] The frontier or border of a country Immediate area of view [British] The seaside [Often plural] A country Verb, intransitive: [Of a person or vehicle] To move easily without using power To act or make progress without making much effort To slide down an incline through the effect of gravity [With adverbial of direction] To sail near or along the coast, especially in order to carry cargo [Obsolete] To move along or past the side of [Obsolete] To proceed in a roundabout way Verb, transitive: [Nautical] To sail or move along the coast or border of To cause to move along under acquired momentum To keep alongside of (a person moving) [Obsolete] To go by the side or border of	Adjective: Of, relating to, or located on land, especially land along the edge of a body of water ¹ Noun: The land along the edge of a sea, lake, or other large body of water ² [Law] The land between ordinary high- and low-water marks [Usually shores] A country or other geographic area bounded by a coast Land as opposed to water A prop or beam set obliquely against something weak or unstable as a support ³ Verb, transitive: Support or hold up something with props or beams ³ Support or assist something that would otherwise fail or decline To give support to (usually followed by up) [Archaic past tense] Shear ⁴
Examples:
Noun: The islands had fabulous sandy beaches. They went walking along the beach at sunset. Belly up to the beach bar. The kids had fun playing on the beach. Verb, intransitive: Crews would not beach for fear of damaging craft. We don’t know what causes whales to beach. “Roughly 125 marine mammals wash up on the shores of North Carolina beaches annually, according to NCSU, including whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and manatees” (Moore). Verb, transitive: At the water’s edge a rowboat was beached. He managed to beach a fine trout. Competitive procurement seems to have beached several companies.	Noun: We sailed along the west coast of Africa. They sailed further up the coast. We drove up along the coast road. We took a vacation to the Coast. Lobster, croaker, bluefish, cobia, dolphinfish, grouper, flounder, and more are all fish of the Atlantic coast. Once the coast to the moon had begun, Apollo was separated from the third stage. It’s cool. The coast is clear. When it snowed they made a coast on the golf course. “Today, the coast [of the Ligurian Riviera] is divided into the Italian Riviera and the French Riviera, although the French use the term ‘Riviera’ to refer to the Italian Riviera and call the French portion the ‘Côte d’Azur'” (Coast). “The UK coast boasts more beach towns than you can shake a stick of rock at” (Gogerty). Verb, intransitive: The engines stopped, and the craft coasted along. He coasted to victory. He coasted down the eastern shore. Young Tim coasted down the hill on his cardboard sled. We cut off the motor and coasted into town. She coasted for a few weeks before applying for a job. Plied with barges and packets, The Sea Trader coasted up and down the coast, delivering fuel and grain. “While the plane coasted off to make another turn, she covered Kapu with flakes” (George). “Then we were coasting the noble island of the god, where grazed those cattle with wide brows, and bounteous flocks of Helios, lord of noon, who rides high heaven” (Homer). Verb, transitive: I coasted past the hills in Monterey. “When they coasted the final hill into town, the streets were in shadow” (Spinelli). “And as this scruffy vehicle coasted noisily to a colorful exhaust-belching halt, it happened to obliterate from Bernabe’s view the lone parking meter in town” (Nichols). “I had coasted along the lower wall of the orchard — turned its angle: there was a gate just there, opening into the meadow, between two stone pillars crowned by stone balls” (Brontë). They can coast a rocket around the sun. “He felt as light as a hawk coasting the upper air over the oasis” (Farmer).	Adjective: There was a marine on shore duty. All four of us got shore leave. xx Noun: I took the tiller and made for the shore. He and his friends stood on the shores of the bay. We went for a walk along the shore. “”I’m going for a walk to the outside shore tonight,” Anne told Gog and Magog one October evening” (Montgomery ch 10). They fell upon the shores of the New World, crying with happiness. In 1992, Britain played host to the first multi-racial South African team to visit its shores. He was a sailor with an assignment on shore. Verb, transitive: Rescue workers had to shore up the building, which was in danger of collapse. The crew shored up the sagging floors. They shored up the peace initiative. Congress approved a $700 billion plan to shore up the financial industry.
Derivatives:
Adjective: beached, beachier, beachiest, beachy Noun: beachcomber, beachfront, beachgoer, beachiness, beachside, beachwear	Adjective: coast-to-coast, coastal, coastwise Adverb: coast-to-coast, coastally, coastwise Noun: coaster, coastguard, coastland	Adjective: shoreless Noun: shoreline, shoring
History of the Word:
Mid-16th century denoting shingle on the seashore is perhaps related to the Old English bæce, bece meaning brook (an element that survives in place names such as Wisbech and Sandbach), assuming an intermediate sense pebbly river valley.	Middle English, in the sense side of the body, from the Old French coste noun), costeier verb), from the Latin costa meaning rib, flank, side. Coast, as the part of the land near the sea, arose from the phrase coast of the sea meaning side of the sea.	The earliest known use is in the Middle English period (1150—1500). The Oxford English Dictionary’s earliest evidence for shore is from 1487, in the writing of John Barbour, ecclesiastic and verse historian. Shore is probably a word inherited from Germanic. Middle English from the Middle Dutch, the Middle Low German schōre and perhaps related to the verb shear. Middle English from the Middle Dutch, the Middle Low German schore meaning prop, of unknown origin. Unknown

Beach

Coast

Shore

Looking down at a long, wide stretch of beach

Beach Rush Hour, Culdaff, County Donegal, Ireland, by Owen Doody is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Georgraph.org.uk.

An aerial view of the California coastline.

California Coast contributed by Ron Clausen is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.

Gray-shingled house on a beach is being shored up with timbers.

Shored-up House, 2 February 2013, Montaloking, New Jersey, by Sharon Karr of FEMA and is in the public domain, via NARA & DVIDS Public Domain Archive.

Part of Grammar:

Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive

Plural for the noun: beaches
Gerund: beaching

Third person present verb: beaches
Past tense or past participle: beached
Present participle: beaching

Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive

Plural for the noun: coasts
Gerund: coasting

Third person present verb: coasts
Past tense or past participle: coasted
Present participle: coasting

A.k.a. coastline, seashore, shoreline

Adjective ¹; Noun ², ³; Verb, transitive ³, ⁴

Plural for the noun: shores
Gerund: shoring

Third person present verb: shores
Past tense or past participle: shored
Archaic past tense ³
Present participle: shoring

Noun:
A strip of land covered with sand, pebbles, or small stones at the edge of a body of water, especially by the ocean between high- and low-water marks

Verb, intransitive:
Fun or haul up (a boat or ship) on to a beach

[Of a whale or similar animal] Become stranded out of the water

Verb, transitive:
Run or haul up (a boat or ship) on to a beach

[Of an angler] Land (a fish) on a beach
Cause (someone) to suffer a loss

Noun:
The part of the land near the sea

The edge of the land
[North American English; the Coast] The Pacific coast of North America
The water near this land

A run or movement in or on a vehicle without the use of power

A hill or other slope down which one may coast, as on a sled

The act of sliding or coasting

Slide

[Obsolete] The frontier or border of a country

Immediate area of view

[British] The seaside

[Often plural] A country

Verb, intransitive:
[Of a person or vehicle] To move easily without using power

To act or make progress without making much effort

To slide down an incline through the effect of gravity

[With adverbial of direction] To sail near or along the coast, especially in order to carry cargo

[Obsolete] To move along or past the side of

[Obsolete] To proceed in a roundabout way

Verb, transitive:
[Nautical] To sail or move along the coast or border of

To cause to move along under acquired momentum

To keep alongside of (a person moving)

[Obsolete] To go by the side or border of

Adjective:
Of, relating to, or located on land, especially land along the edge of a body of water ¹

Noun:
The land along the edge of a sea, lake, or other large body of water ²

[Law] The land between ordinary high- and low-water marks
[Usually shores] A country or other geographic area bounded by a coast

Land as opposed to water

A prop or beam set obliquely against something weak or unstable as a support ³

Verb, transitive:
Support or hold up something with props or beams ³

Support or assist something that would otherwise fail or decline
To give support to (usually followed by up)

[Archaic past tense] Shear ⁴

Examples:

Noun:
The islands had fabulous sandy beaches.

They went walking along the beach at sunset.

Belly up to the beach bar.

The kids had fun playing on the beach.

Verb, intransitive:
Crews would not beach for fear of damaging craft.

We don’t know what causes whales to beach.

“Roughly 125 marine mammals wash up on the shores of North Carolina beaches annually, according to NCSU, including whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and manatees” (Moore).

Verb, transitive:
At the water’s edge a rowboat was beached.

He managed to beach a fine trout.

Competitive procurement seems to have beached several companies.

Noun:
We sailed along the west coast of Africa.

They sailed further up the coast.

We drove up along the coast road.

We took a vacation to the Coast.

Lobster, croaker, bluefish, cobia, dolphinfish, grouper, flounder, and more are all fish of the Atlantic coast.

Once the coast to the moon had begun, Apollo was separated from the third stage.

It’s cool. The coast is clear.

When it snowed they made a coast on the golf course.

“Today, the coast [of the Ligurian Riviera] is divided into the Italian Riviera and the French Riviera, although the French use the term ‘Riviera’ to refer to the Italian Riviera and call the French portion the ‘Côte d’Azur'” (Coast).

“The UK coast boasts more beach towns than you can shake a stick of rock at” (Gogerty).

Verb, intransitive:
The engines stopped, and the craft coasted along.

He coasted to victory.

He coasted down the eastern shore.

Young Tim coasted down the hill on his cardboard sled.

We cut off the motor and coasted into town.

She coasted for a few weeks before applying for a job.

Plied with barges and packets, The Sea Trader coasted up and down the coast, delivering fuel and grain.

“While the plane coasted off to make another turn, she covered Kapu with flakes” (George).
“Then we were coasting the noble island of the god, where grazed those cattle with wide brows, and bounteous flocks of Helios, lord of noon, who rides high heaven” (Homer).

Verb, transitive:
I coasted past the hills in Monterey.

“When they coasted the final hill into town, the streets were in shadow” (Spinelli).

“And as this scruffy vehicle coasted noisily to a colorful exhaust-belching halt, it happened to obliterate from Bernabe’s view the lone parking meter in town” (Nichols).

“I had coasted along the lower wall of the orchard — turned its angle: there was a gate just there, opening into the meadow, between two stone pillars crowned by stone balls” (Brontë).

They can coast a rocket around the sun.

“He felt as light as a hawk coasting the upper air over the oasis” (Farmer).

Adjective:
There was a marine on shore duty.

All four of us got shore leave.

Noun:
I took the tiller and made for the shore.

He and his friends stood on the shores of the bay.

We went for a walk along the shore.

“”I’m going for a walk to the outside shore tonight,” Anne told Gog and Magog one October evening” (Montgomery ch 10).

They fell upon the shores of the New World, crying with happiness.

In 1992, Britain played host to the first multi-racial South African team to visit its shores.

He was a sailor with an assignment on shore.

Verb, transitive:
Rescue workers had to shore up the building, which was in danger of collapse.

The crew shored up the sagging floors.

They shored up the peace initiative.

Congress approved a $700 billion plan to shore up the financial industry.

Derivatives:

Adjective: beached, beachier, beachiest, beachy
Noun: beachcomber, beachfront, beachgoer, beachiness, beachside, beachwear

Adjective: coast-to-coast, coastal, coastwise
Adverb: coast-to-coast, coastally, coastwise
Noun: coaster, coastguard, coastland

Adjective: shoreless
Noun: shoreline, shoring

History of the Word:

Mid-16th century denoting shingle on the seashore is perhaps related to the Old English bæce, bece meaning brook (an element that survives in place names such as Wisbech and Sandbach), assuming an intermediate sense pebbly river valley.

Middle English, in the sense side of the body, from the Old French coste noun), costeier verb), from the Latin costa meaning rib, flank, side.

Coast, as the part of the land near the sea, arose from the phrase coast of the sea meaning side of the sea.

The earliest known use is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).
The Oxford English Dictionary’s earliest evidence for shore is from 1487, in the writing of John Barbour, ecclesiastic and verse historian. Shore is probably a word inherited from Germanic.
Middle English from the Middle Dutch, the Middle Low German schōre and perhaps related to the verb shear.
Middle English from the Middle Dutch, the Middle Low German schore meaning prop, of unknown origin.
Unknown

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

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Resources for Beach vs Coast vs Shore

Some of these links may be affiliate links, and I will earn a small percentage, if you should buy it. It does not affect the price you pay.

Apple Dictionary.com

Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Originally published 1847. Bantam Classics, 1983. <https://amzn.to/3TJexmm>. Print.

“Coast.” Wikipedia. 29 Dec 2023. Accessed 29 Dec 2023. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast>.

Dictionary.com: coast, shore

Farmer, Nancy. The House of the Scorpion. Originally published 2002. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010. <https://amzn.to/48rCKBS>. Ebook.

The Free Dictionary: beach, coast, shore

George, Jean Craighead. Julie of the Wolves. Originally published 1972. HarperCollins, 2016. <https://amzn.to/48Ad5GV>. Ebook.

Gogerty, Clare. “10 of the UK’s Best Seaside Towns.” The Guardian. 26 May 2018. Accessed 29 Dec 2023. <https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/may/26/10-best-seaside-town-uk-coast-hotels-restaurants>.

Homer. The Odyssey. Samuel Butler (trans.) Originally published 700 BC. Teucer Press, 2020. <https://amzn.to/47mGof8>. Ebook.

Merriam-Webster: coast, shore

Montgomery, Lucy Maud. Anne’s House of Dreams Originally published 1917. 2012. <https://amzn.to/3TGlzIi>. Ebook.

Moore, Julia. “Whale Calf Washes Up Dead on North Carolina Beach After ‘Ingestion of Plastic’ Balloon.” People. 9 Nov 2023. Accessed 29 Dec 2023. <https://people.com/whale-calf-washes-up-dead-plastic-balloon-ingestion-8400067>.

Nichols, John. The Milagro Beanfield War. Originally published 1974. Owl Books, 2000. <https://amzn.to/3ve0xqp>. Print.

Oxford English Dictionary: shore

Spinelli, Jerry. Wringer. Originally published by HarperTeen, 1996. HarperCollins, 2009. <https://amzn.to/41JtsyW>. Ebook.

Vocabulary.com: coast

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