as in beach
often sands plural
the usually sandy or gravelly land bordering a body of water
we went for a moonlight walk on the sands
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in to rub
to make smooth by friction
painstakingly sanded down the wooden floors of the old house
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sand
ABC News, 11 Apr. 2026
Tents rippled in the breeze, and children played on the sand against a backdrop of shattered buildings.
—Wafaa Shurafa, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026
Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 8 Apr. 2026
Re-sand the board using 220-grit sandpaper.
—Staff Author, Martha Stewart, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sand
Noun
The ’70s shocks also set off a search for oil outside the Middle East — Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, the North Sea fields off the coasts of the United Kingdom and Norway and Canada’s oil sands deposits.
—ABC News, 11 Apr. 2026
Tents rippled in the breeze, and children played on the sand against a backdrop of shattered buildings.
—Wafaa Shurafa, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026
Verb
The rigid jean is hand-sanded to emphasize its fullness.
—Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 8 Apr. 2026
Re-sand the board using 220-grit sandpaper.
—Staff Author, Martha Stewart, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sand
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sand
Noun
-
People revel in the nostalgia of ten or twenty or thirty years ago by digging up old photos and posting them—photos from birthday parties or career milestones or from a moment spent sitting under the final sparks of daylight on a beach.—
Hanif Abdurraqib,
New Yorker,
17 Apr. 2026
-
The tradition has carried on, however, as an unsanctioned event on the beach for decades, and has primarily been marketed to HBCU students in the southeast.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Sara Aparacio, a resident cleaning expert at Homeaglow, equates scrubbing an appliance with an abrasive sponge to rubbing it with very fine sandpaper.—
Maria Sabella,
The Spruce,
11 Apr. 2026
-
Blot — don’t rub — and avoid over-wetting the mattress, which can lead to mold growth if moisture gets trapped inside.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Sacbee.com,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Advances in storage density, and the digitization of everything from filing taxes to laying out magazines, changed this calculus.—
Julian Lucas,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Greenhaven also was on the verge of losing its license, according to a revocation notice filed in November 2018 by the California Department of Social Services.—
Jordan Rau,
NPR,
19 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Players talented enough, polished enough and mentally wired well enough to survive almost any landing spot.—
Eddie Brown,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Triple Active Exfoliator features enzyme, acid, and physical exfoliants to gently but powerfully polish and smooth the skin, an amazing mask for face, neck and chest.—
Tory Johnson,
ABC News,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Bodies in motion are intercut with a bespoke gun factory’s grinding gears; human combats are juxtaposed with VR imagery or first-person shooter games.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Apr. 2026
-
That willingness to grind, Jassy argued, is what separates the people who move up from those who stall out.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
21 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sand. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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