What does "coast" mean?
The edge of the land where it meets an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, or large lake.
Coast
/kəʊst/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The edge of the land where it meets an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, or large lake.
- Grammar: coast is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: glide, seacoast, seashore, slide.
- Useful contrasts: accelerate, boga, claws.
- Usage evidence: The plane rose sharply before leveling off as it left the coast.
How to use "coast"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "coast" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "coast" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "coast" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "coast" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "coast" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "glide" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "coast", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The edge of the land where it meets an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, or large lake.
"The rocky coast of Maine has few beaches."
- 2 the act of moving smoothly along a surface while remaining in contact with it wordnet
- 3 The side or edge of something. obsolete
"And the Coaſt towards which the lines KL and VX are drawn, may be call’d the Coaſt of unuſual Refraction."
- 4 the area within view wordnet
- 5 A region of land; a district or country. obsolete
"Then Herod perceavynge that he was moocked off the wyse men, was excedynge wroth, and sent forth and slue all the chyldren that were in bethleem, and in all the costes thereof […]"
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 a slope down which sleds may coast wordnet
- 7 A region of the air or heavens. obsolete
"the learned Merlin, well could tell, / Vnder what coast of heauen the man did dwell […]"
- 8 the shore of a sea or ocean wordnet
Verb
- 1 To glide along without adding energy; to allow a vehicle to continue moving forward after disengaging the engine or ceasing to apply motive power. intransitive
"When I ran out of gas, fortunately I managed to coast into a nearby gas station."
- 2 move effortlessly; by force of gravity wordnet
- 3 To sail along a coast. intransitive
"The Ancients coasted only in their Navigations."
- 4 To make a minimal effort; to continue to do something in a routine way, without initiative or effort. figuratively, intransitive
"Yet the truth is that City would probably have been coasting by that point if the referee, Michael Oliver, had not turned down three separate penalties, at least two of which could be accurately described as certainties."
- 5 To draw near to; to approach; to keep near, or by the side of. intransitive, obsolete
"Anon she hears them chant it lustily, / And all in haste she coasteth to the cry."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 To sail by or near; to follow the coastline of. obsolete, transitive
"Nearchus, […] not knowing the compass, was fain to coast that shore."
- 7 To conduct along a coast or river bank. obsolete, transitive
"The Indians […] coasted me a long the river."
- 8 To slide downhill; to slide on a sled upon snow or ice. Canada, US, dialectal
Proper Noun
- 1 A region of British Columbia, Canada.
Antonyms
Example
"The plane rose sharply before leveling off as it left the coast."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "coast"?
Common synonyms include: glide, seacoast, seashore, slide, abide, avalanche.
How do you use "coast" in a sentence?
The plane rose sharply before leveling off as it left the coast.
How do you pronounce "coast"?
Pronounced /kəʊst/.
Etymology
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”). Doublet of costa. Compare typologically cape < Latin caput, ness (akin to nose), Bulgarian нос (nos, “nose; …; cape, promontory, foreland, gore”), Macedonian ’рт (’rt), Serbo-Croatian рт (“cape, promontory, headland”) < Proto-Slavic *rъtъ (whence Russian рот (rot)).
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.