beachcomber

noun

beach·​comb·​er ˈbēch-ˌkō-mər 

plural beachcombers

1

: a person who searches along a shore (as for seashells, driftwood, or salable refuse)

2

dated : a non-Indigenous person (such as a European castaway or convict) living as a drifter or loafer especially on the islands of the South Pacific (such as Micronesia)

beachcomb

ˈbēch-ˌkōm 

intransitive verb

beachcombed; beachcombing; beachcombs

Beachcombing for antique blue glass beads …

—Karl Luntta

My mother loved to beachcomb after high tide on stormy days …

—Motor Boating & Sailing

Examples of beachcomber in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

My favorite activity was riding beachcomber bikes across the sprawling property dotted with palm trees and pools. —Eve Chen, USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2025

The detector weighed less than 14 kilograms and operated much like the metal detectors used by beachcombers today. —IEEE Spectrum, 8 Jan. 2025

Wally Wheeler, the beachcomber who had found Claire's body, started writing long, odd letters to her parents. —Richard Schlesinger, CBS News, 6 July 2024

Local beachcombers found a deep-sea angler fish known as the Pacific football fish just south of Cannon Beach, Oregon, which is around an hour and a half drive northwest of Portland, said the Seaside Aquarium in a Facebook post on May 18. —Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 20 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1836, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for beachcomber

• misnomer
• sarcoma
• angiosarcoma
• osteosarcoma
• chondrosarcoma
• enantiomer
• fibrosarcoma
• lymphosarcoma
• comber
• gomer
• omer
• vomer

Kids Definition

beachcomber

noun

beach·​comb·​er ˈbēch-ˌkō-mər 

1

: a drifter or loafer especially on a South Pacific island

2

: a person who searches along a beach (as for seashells or items to sell)