Dictionary

coast

Pronunciation

Noun

coast (plural coasts)

The edge of the land where it meets an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, or large lake. [from 14th c.]
The rocky coast of Maine has few beaches.
(obsolete) The side or edge of something. [15th-18th c.]
(obsolete) A region of land; a district or country. [14th-17th c.]
- 1526, William Tyndale (translator), Bible, Matthew 2
  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 […]
- 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], chapter II, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 54573970 ↗, partition ii, section 3:
  P. Crescentius, in his lib. 1 de agric. cap. 5, is very copious in this subject, how a house should be wholesomely sited, in a good coast, good air, wind, etc.
(obsolete) A region of the air or heavens. [14th-17th c.]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III iii
  the learned Merlin, well could tell, / Vnder what coast of heauen the man did dwell […]

Translations

Verb

coast (coasts, present participle coasting; past and past participle coasted)

(intransitive) To glide along without adding energy; to allow a vehicle to continue moving forward after disengaging the engine or ceasing to apply motive power.
When I ran out of gas, fortunately I managed to coast into a nearby gas station.
(intransitive, nautical) To sail along a coast.
- The ancients coasted only in their navigation.
(intransitive) To make a minimal effort; to continue to do something in a routine way, without initiative or effort.
- November 2 2014, Daniel Taylor, "Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United ↗," guardian.co.uk
  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.
(intransitive, obsolete) To draw near to; to approach; to keep near, or by the side of.
- RQ
(transitive, obsolete) To sail by or near; to follow the coastline of.
- Nearchus, […] not knowing the compass, was fain to coast that shore.
(transitive, obsolete) To conduct along a coast or river bank.
- The Indians […] coasted me along the river.
(US, dialect) To slide downhill; to slide on a sled upon snow or ice.

Translations

Translations

Translations

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