Beach

[Probably from Icel. bakki, a bank.] (Geol.) A shelving tract of sand or shingle washed by the sea or a fresh-water lake, interspersed between the water and the land on which vegetation grows. The sea -beach is the space between low and high water mark, particularly that part of it which is washed by the waves; and the beach of a lake lies between the highest and lowest water-marks of its ordinary level. - Raised beaches are banks of sand and shingle, with shells, found following the bays and rece es of the coast, at various heights above the existing beach or sea-margin. These give evidence of either elevation of the land, or depre ion of the ocean, and point to times when sea and land stood at these succe ive levels. -v. a. To run or drive upon a beach; used generally in the sense of a ship, to avoid sinking.