coast

noun \ ˈkōst \

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

1 : the land near a shore : seashore

2 obsolete : border, frontier

3 a : a hill or slope suited to coasting

b : a slide down a slope (as on a sled)

4 often capitalized : the Pacific coast of the U.S.

5 : the immediate area of view —used in the phrase the coast is clear

—

coastal

play \ˈkōs-tᵊl\ adjective

—

coastwise

play \ˈkōst-ˌwīz\ adverb or adjective

— from coast to coast

: across an entire nation or continent

See coast defined for English-language learners

See coast defined for kids

Examples of coast in a Sentence

He lives on the coast.
He's flying out to the Coast tomorrow.

Recent Examples of coast from the Web

After the collapse of his Fortress fund, Novogratz found himself on the coast of the Bay of Bengal in India, talking to his guru, Krishnaji, at the One World Academy, trying to figure out what to do with his life.

— rachel aviv, The New Yorker, "A Sidelined Wall Street Legend Bets on Bitcoin," 10 Apr. 2018
This was the multicultural Bay Area, of course, but Fulbeck has photographed people coast to coast, from Honolulu, Seattle and L.A. to Chicago and Boise to Syracuse and New York City.

— bonnie tsui, latimes.com, "What does it mean to be of mixed race in America? A new book and exhibition aim to answer," 6 Apr. 2018
Simulating a Viking voyage Horvath used a computer program to simulate 1,000 voyages from the port city of Bergen, Norway to the settlement of Hvarf on the southern coast of Greenland.

— kiona n. smith, Ars Technica, "Mysterious sunstones in medieval Viking texts could really have worked," 6 Apr. 2018
Cyprus government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said Thursday that the country's foreign ministry will spearhead protests over the plant's future operation on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

— Fox News, "Cyprus to protest Turkey's planned nuclear power plant," 5 Apr. 2018
Hossegor, France Located on the southwestern coast of France, Hossegor is a world-famous surf destination on one of Europe’s longest white-sand beaches.

— megan michelson, Outside Online, "Best Spots to Live (for a While) as a Digital Nomad," 4 Apr. 2018
There are novels set on the coast and in the cities, across the South and abroad.

— caroline rogers, Southern Living, "Beach Reads Perfect for Summer Vacation," 3 Apr. 2018
Raabe grew up hiking with her family in the mountains around Ålesund, a small port city on an archipelago on Norway's west coast.

— julia felsenthal, Vogue, "You Need To Know About Sigrid," 3 Apr. 2018
The approximately 50 footprints were found on a peninsula on the northeast coast of the Isle of Skye, where researchers used a combination of drone footage and software to create models of the fossilized tracks.

— alix langone, Time, "These 170-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Tracks Were Uncovered in Scotland," 3 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'coast.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.