n.; pl. Beaches [ Cf. Sw. backe hill, Dan. bakke, Icel. bakki hill, bank. Cf. Bank. ] 1. Pebbles, collectively; shingle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The shore of the sea, or of a lake, which is washed by the waves; especially, a sandy or pebbly shore; the strand. [ 1913 Webster ]

Beach flea (Zool.), the common name of many species of amphipod Crustacea, of the family Orchestidæ, living on the sea beaches, and leaping like fleas. --
Beach grass (Bot.), a coarse grass (Ammophila arundinacea), growing on the sandy shores of lakes and seas, which, by its interlaced running rootstocks, binds the sand together, and resists the encroachment of the waves. --
Beach wagon, a light open wagon with two or more seats. --
Raised beach, an accumulation of water-worn stones, gravel, sand, and other shore deposits, above the present level of wave action, whether actually raised by elevation of the coast, as in Norway, or left by the receding waters, as in many lake and river regions. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Beached p. pr. & vb. n. Beaching. ] To run or drive (as a vessel or a boat) upon a beach; to strand; as, to beach a ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

. [ Written also beach-comber or beach comber. ] (Naut.) 1. A vagrant seaman, usually of low character, who loiters about seaports, particularly on the shores and islands of the Pacific Ocean. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

I was fortunate enough, however, to forgather with a Scotchman who was a beach-comber. F. T. Bullen. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. a vagrant living on a beach. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. a person who searches along a beach for objects of value, such as lost objects or seashells. [ PJC ]

A long, curling wave rolling in from the ocean. See Comber. [ Amer., archaic ] [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

p. p. & a. 1. Bordered by a beach. [ 1913 Webster ]

The beached verge of the salt flood. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Driven on a beach; stranded; drawn up on a beach; as, the ship is beached. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an area in hostile territory that has been occupied and is held to allow aditional troops and supplies to enter.
Syn. -- bridgehead, foothold. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. having an extensive gently sloping area of sand or gravel; -- of a shore or shoreline. Opposite of cliffy. [ Narrower terms: gravelly, pebbly, shingly ]
Syn. -- beachy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. clothing to be worn at a beach. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Having a beach or beaches; formed by a beach or beaches; shingly. [ 1913 Webster ]

The beachy girdle of the ocean. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bekene, AS. beácen, bēcen; akin to OS. bōkan, Fries. baken, beken, sign, signal, D. baak, OHG. bouhhan, G. bake; of unknown origin. Cf. Beckon. ] 1. A signal fire to notify of the approach of an enemy, or to give any notice, commonly of warning. [ 1913 Webster ]

No flaming beacons cast their blaze afar. Gay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A signal, such as that from a lighthouse, or a conspicuous mark erected on an eminence near the shore, or moored in shoal water, as a guide to mariners. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A high hill near the shore. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. That which gives notice of danger. [ 1913 Webster ]

Modest doubt is called
The beacon of the wise. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Navigation) a radio transmitter which emits a characteristic signal indication its location, so that vehicles may determine their exact location by locating the beacon with a radio compass; -- also called
radio beacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. [ fig. ] that which provides guidance or inspiration; the Constitution has been a beacon for civil rights activists. [ PJC ]

Beacon fire, a signal fire. [ 1913 Webster ]