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shore ~ coast ~ seaside ~ beach

[different words and different pronunciation]

These four words in this set are related to the land along side a large body of water; however, they are not interchangeable in most contexts.  The pair ‘shore’ and ‘coast’ may be interchanged in some situations, but not with the other words.  Therefore, we take a quick look at them so that we can use them without breaking the collocation.

“Shore” (noun) is ‘the land along the edge of a large water body, especially the land along a large lake, sea or ocean’,

e.g.

Only two of the ship-wreck victims swam to the shore.

The sailors were given a few hours on shore at every port of call.   [i.e. the sailors were allowed to leave ship and spend some time on the land]

Luxury hotels are being built on the shores all over the world.

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“Coast”, as a noun & used mostly as a technical word, is ‘the land area that meets the sea’; as a verb, it is ‘(of a vehicle) to move easily without any power or force either from an engine or from outside; (of people) to do something without much commitment or seriousness’, {‘coastal guards’, ‘coastal weather’ and ‘coastal fishing’ are some of the technical words related to “coast”}

e.g.

He rode from east coast to west coast on his rickety bike!

The coast on the south is shrinking rapidly.

My bicycle coasted down the slope.

Our teacher told us that she was just coasting her time at the school.   [i.e. she was not taking her job seriously, just using her job as pastime]

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“Seaside”, as a noun, is ‘the area with or without villages and/or small towns near a sea where people from busy cities go to enjoy themselves, usually in summer’; as an adjective, it is ‘relating to places that are near a sea’,

e.g.

The whole family is excited about their trip to the seaside.

The children are all looking forward to a seaside holiday.

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“Beach”, as a noun, is ‘the narrow strip of sand or small pebbles at the edge of a sea or a large lake’; and as a verb, it is ‘to pull a boat up onto the shore away from the water’,

e.g.

The Juhu beach in Mumbai and the Marina beach in Chennai are very popular with the Indian tourists; the beachesin Goa, on the other hand, are very popular with the foreign tourists.

The fishermen beach their boats when the sea is stormy.

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