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beach

(bēch)

1. The shore of a body of water, especially when sandy or pebbly.

2. The sand or pebbles on a shore.

3. The zone above the water line at a shore of a body of water, marked by an accumulation of sand, stone, or gravel that has been deposited by the tide or waves.

v. beached, beach·ing, beach·es

v.tr.

1. To run, haul, or bring ashore: beached the rowboat in front of the cabin; hooked a big bluefish but was unable to beach it.

2. To cause (a whale or other sea animal) to be unable to swim free from a beach.

v.intr.

1. To run or be hauled ashore: We beached near the palm trees.

2. To be stranded on a beach. Used of sea animals.

[Perhaps Middle English beche, stream, from Old English bece.]

Beach, Sylvia Originally Nancy Woodbridge Beach. 1887-1962.

American bookseller who owned an influential bookstore in Paris from 1919 to 1941. She published the first edition of James Joyce's Ulysses in 1922.

Beach

(bēch), Amy Marcy Cheney 1867-1944.

American pianist and composer noted for her songs and chamber music as well as for the Grand Mass (1892) and Gaelic Symphony (1896).

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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