coast

A2 Topic:Maritime & Sailing

US /koʊst/ UK /kəʊst/ See IPA manual

Freq #2346

Meanings

1

noun
The land along the edge of the sea.

We spent the summer in a small town on the coast.
2

verb
To keep moving forward without using power, such as a car going downhill.

The car ran out of fuel, but I coasted into a petrol station.
3

verb
To move along or succeed easily, without much effort.

He coasted through the exam without studying much.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms coastedcoastingcoasts

Derived forms coast-to-coastcoastalcoastboundcoasteeringcoastercoastguardcoastguardingcoastlandcoastlesscoastlinecoastwardcoastwards

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

west coast
the shore along the western side of a country or island

Adjective + noun
coast redwood
a very tall evergreen redwood native to the foggy Pacific coast of North America

Noun + noun

Idioms (1)

See all

the coast is clear
it is safe to proceed without being seen or stopped

Simplified etymology

Coast comes ultimately from Latin costa, “rib” or “side,” and once meant a rib or the side of the body in English. The phrase coast of the sea, literally its side, produced the late Middle English sense “land adjoining the sea.” The verb originally meant to move along an edge or sail along a shoreline.

Etymology

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.

costeien Middle English costoier Old French costicāre Latin costa Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Maritime & Sailing Nature & Landscape

External links

# coast

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /koʊst/
**IPA (UK):** /kəʊst/
**Frequency rank:** 2346

## Meanings
1. The land along the edge of the sea.
2. To keep moving forward without using power, such as a car going downhill.
3. To move along or succeed easily, without much effort.

## Examples
- We spent the summer in a small town on the coast.
- The car ran out of fuel, but I coasted into a petrol station.
- He coasted through the exam without studying much.

## Derived Forms
- coast-to-coast
- coastal
- coastbound
- coasteering
- coaster
- coastguard
- coastguarding
- coastland
- coastless
- coastline
- coastward
- coastwards

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: costeien
- Root: costoier
- Root: costicāre
- Root: costa

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
coast is a noun and verb. It is 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 an unspecified form, 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”);. Historical forms in the chain include costeien (Middle English), costoier (Old French), costicāre (Latin), and costa (Latin). Current senses include the land along the edge of the sea, to keep moving forward without using power, such as a car going downhill, and to move along or succeed easily, without much effort. Derived forms include coast-to-coast, coastal, coastbound, coasteering, and coaster.

## Topics
- Maritime & Sailing
- Nature & Landscape

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