coast

coast
coast (n.) "margin of the land," early 14c.; earlier "rib as a part of the body" (early 12c.), from O.Fr. coste "rib, side, flank; slope, incline;" later "coast, shore" (12c., Mod.Fr. côte), from L. costa "a rib," perhaps related to a root word for "bone" (Cf. O.C.S. kosti "bone," also see OSSEOUS (Cf. osseous)). Latin costa developed a secondary sense in M.L. of "the shore," via notion of the "side" of the land, as well as "side of a hill," and this passed into Romanic (Cf. It. costa "coast, side," Sp. cuesta "slope," costa "coast"), but only in the Germanic languages that borrowed it is it fully specialized in this sense (Cf. Du. kust, Swed. kust, Ger. Küste, Dan. kyst). French also used this word for "hillside, slope," which led to verb meaning "sled downhill," first attested 1775 in Amer.Eng. The verb is from mid-14c. in the sense "to skirt, to go around the sides or border" of something (as a ship does the coastline); of motor vehicles, "to move without thrust from the engine," by 1925; figurative use, of persons, "not to exert oneself," by 1934. Related: Coasted; coasting. Expression the coast is clear (16c.) is an image of landing on a shore unguarded by enemies.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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Synonyms:
, , / , , , , , , (on a sled)


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  • Coast — (k[=o]st), n. [OF. coste, F. c[^o]te, rib, hill, shore, coast, L. costa rib, side. Cf. {Accost}, v. t., {Cutlet}.] 1. The side of a thing. [Obs.] Sir I. Newton. [1913 Webster] 2. The exterior line, limit, or border of a country; frontier border.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • coast — UK US /kəʊst/ noun [C] ► the land next to or close to the sea: »The oil spill happened just off the Spanish coast. the east/west coast »He grew up on the west coast, in California. ● coast to coast Cf. coast to coast …   Financial and business terms

  • coast — coast; coast·al; coast·er; coast·ing; coast·ways; coast·ward; coast·wise; coast·al·ly; …   English syllables

  • coast — [kōst] n. [ME coste, coast < OFr, a rib, hill, shore, coast < L costa, a rib, side] 1. land alongside the sea; seashore 2. Obs. frontier; borderland ☆ 3. [< CdnFr, hillside, slope] an incline down which a slide is taken ☆ 4. a slide or… …   English World dictionary

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  • Coast — Coast, v. t. 1. To draw near to; to approach; to keep near, or by the side of. [Obs.] Hakluyt. [1913 Webster] 2. To sail by or near; to follow the coast line of. [1913 Webster] Nearchus, . . . not knowing the compass, was fain to coast that shore …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Coast — (k[=o]st), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Coasted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Coasting}.] [OE. costien, costeien, costen, OF. costier, costoier, F. c[^o]toyer, fr. Of. coste coast, F. c[^o]te. See {Coast}, n.] 1. To draw or keep near; to approach. [Obs.] [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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