coast

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The land along the edge of the sea.

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

2. 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. 3
   verb

   To move along or succeed easily, without much effort.

   He coasted through the exam without studying much.

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.

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