Beachcomber

//ˈbit͡ʃˌkoʊmɚ// name, noun

name, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A seaman who is not prepared to work but hangs around port areas living off the charity of others.

    "The society of beach-combers always repays the small pains you need be at to enjoy it. They are easy of approach and affable in conversation."

  2. 2
    a vagrant living on a beach wordnet
  3. 3
    Any loafer around a waterfront.
  4. 4
    A person who collects marine salvage at the coast.

    "Now and again a wreck was to be seen, or a vessel left lonely and sad on a reef, her rigging dismantled and only waiting for beachcombers to come and break her up for the sake of her timber and old iron."

  5. 5
    A long rolling wave of the sea.
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A retreat in Smiths Bay, Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia.
  2. 2
    A private island, one of the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji.

Synonyms

All synonyms
arabbeach bumbeggarbeggarly fellowblighterbo

Example

More examples

"I'm not a good beachcomber. I only pick up pieces of broken glass where others collect coins and things."

Etymology

From beach + comber.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.