coast

English Online Dictionary. What means coast‎? What does coast mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kōst, IPA^(key): /kəʊst/
• (General American) enPR: kōst, IPA^(key): /koʊst/
• Rhymes: -əʊst

Etymology 1

From Middle English coste (“rib; side of the body, flank; side of a building; face of a solid figure; coast, shore; bay, gulf; sea; concavity, hollow; boundary, limit; land; country; district, province, region; locality, place; division of the heavens; compass direction; direction; location with reference to direction, side”) [and other forms], from Old French coste (“rib; side of an object; coast”) (modern French côte (“rib; coast; hill, slope”)), from Latin costa (“rib; side, wall”), from Proto-Indo-European *kost-. Doublet of costa.

Noun

coast (plural coasts)

1. The edge of the land where it meets an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, or large lake. [from 14th c.]

2. (obsolete) The side or edge of something. [15th–18th c.]
   • 1730, Isaac Newton, Opticks, 4th ed., London: […] William Innys […], page 331:

     And the Coaſt towards which the lines KL and VX are drawn, may be call’d the Coaſt of unuſual Refraction.

3. (obsolete) A region of land; a district or country. [14th–17th c.]
4. (obsolete) A region of the air or heavens. [14th–17th c.]

Hypernyms

• (edge of land meeting an ocean, sea, gulf, or bay): shore, shoreline

Hyponyms

• (edge of land meeting an ocean, sea, gulf, or bay): oceanfront, seashore

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English costeien (“to travel along a border or coast; to go alongside (something), skirt; to accompany, follow; to travel across, traverse; to be adjacent to, to border;”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman [Term?], Old French costoier (“to be at the side of”) […] (modern French côtoyer (“to pass alongside; (figuratively) to rub shoulders”)), from Latin costicāre, from Latin costa (“rib; side, wall”); see further at etymology 1.

Verb

coast (third-person singular simple present coasts, present participle coasting, simple past and past participle coasted)

1. (intransitive) To glide along without adding energy; to allow a vehicle to continue moving forward after disengaging the engine or ceasing to apply motive power.
2. (intransitive, nautical) To sail along a coast.

   Synonym: hug the coastline
3. (intransitive) To make a minimal effort; to continue to do something in a routine way, without initiative or effort.
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To draw near to; to approach; to keep near, or by the side of.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To sail by or near; to follow the coastline of.
6. (transitive, obsolete) To conduct along a coast or river bank.
7. (US, dialect) To slide downhill; to slide on a sled upon snow or ice.

Translations

References

Further reading

• coast on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• coast (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Ascot, Casto, Coats, Costa, Cotas, Sacto, ascot, catso, coats, costa, octas, scato-, scoat, tacos