shoreline

noun

shore·​line ˈshȯr-ˌlīn 

1

: the line where a body of water and the shore meet

2

: the strip of land along the shoreline

Examples of shoreline in a Sentence

The road runs along the shoreline.

Recent Examples on the Web

Guests must either fly into Nassau and take a 10-minute flight to Fresh Creek Airport, or book one of the property’s Coco seaplanes from Fort Lauderdale with a direct route to its iconic shoreline. — Joey Skladany, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Sep. 2026

When ice within frozen ground, known as permafrost, melts, roads can sink, buildings can tilt, pipelines can crack and leak, and shorelines can retreat, leaving homes precariously close to the ocean’s edge. — Ming Xiao, The Conversation, 29 Sep. 2026

Which other creature would have laid its eggs in such a place—which other creature would have had that distant memory of a shoreline buried deep inside? — Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026

Forecasters are warning about dangerous conditions at Southern California beaches this week, with high surf, erosion and possible coastal flooding, as a pair of storms roil warm Pacific waters and send yet more southerly swells toward the shoreline. — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1852, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for shoreline

• alkaline
• andesine
• anodyne
• anticline
• arginine
• asinine
• benzidine
• borderline
• byzantine
• calamine
• caroline
• centerline

Kids Definition

shoreline

noun

shore·​line -ˌlīn 

: the line where a body of water touches the shore

Geographical Definition

Shoreline

geographical name

Shore·​line ˈshȯr-ˌlīn 

city in west central Washington on Puget Sound north of Seattle