Standard Lemma guide

coastline

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K OW1 S T L AY2 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The shape, outline, or boundary of a coast. (The term coastline is generally used to describe the approximate boundaries at relatively large spatial scales.)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • The sweep of the rocky Southern California coastline off Point Fermin.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the outline of a coast

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: outline, lineation

History

Etymology

From coast + line.

Across languages

Translations

30 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: брегова́ ли́ния (bregová línija) — the shape of a coast
  • Catalan: línia de costa — the shape of a coast
  • Catalan: riba — the shape of a coast
  • Chinese Mandarin: 海岸線 /海岸线 (hǎi'ànxiàn) — the shape of a coast
  • Czech: pobřežní čára — the shape of a coast
  • Czech: pobřeží — the shape of a coast
  • Danish: kystlinje — the shape of a coast
  • Dutch: kustlijn — the shape of a coast
  • Esperanto: marbordo — the shape of a coast
  • Finnish: rantaviiva — the shape of a coast
  • French: rive — the shape of a coast
  • French: littoral — the shape of a coast
  • Georgian: სანაპირო ზოლი (sanaṗiro zoli) — the shape of a coast
  • German: Küstenlinie — the shape of a coast
  • Japanese: 海岸線 (kaigansen) — the shape of a coast
  • Māori: tahatika — the shape of a coast
  • Māori: tātika — the shape of a coast
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kystlinje — the shape of a coast
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kystline — the shape of a coast
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kystlinje — the shape of a coast
  • Papiamentu: kosta — the shape of a coast
  • Portuguese: linha costeira — the shape of a coast
  • Romanian: coastă — the shape of a coast
  • Romanian: litoral — the shape of a coast
  • Russian: берегова́я ли́ния (beregovája línija) — the shape of a coast
  • Spanish: línea costera — the shape of a coast
  • Swahili: mwambao — the shape of a coast
  • Swedish: kustlinje — the shape of a coast
  • Ukrainian: бережи́на (berežýna) — the shape of a coast
  • Welsh: morlin — the shape of a coast
Real reading context

coastline in complete knowledge articles