Beachcomb

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Walking along a shoreline to look for interesting items such as shells, driftwood or treasures that the tide has left behind
2. Combing the sand and tideline in search of things the sea has deposited, often for collecting or salvage
3. Scouring a coastline for washed-up objects, whether for pleasure, curiosity or profit from what the waves bring in

Etymology: Beachcomb is a back-formation from "beachcomber," which means that the verb was made by stripping an ending off a noun that already existed. The noun came first: a beachcomber was someone who combed the shore for things the sea had left behind, and English speakers then treated the "-comber" part as if it were an agent suffix, building a verb from the front of the noun. The result runs the process in reverse, since a noun usually gives rise to a verb by adding an ending, not by removing one. The verb's meaning follows the noun closely. To beachcomb is to search a stretch of shore for useful or valuable items such as driftwood, shells, or things washed up from wrecked ships. The word is therefore a compact picture of the activity itself: the beach is the place, and the combing is the careful, repeated sifting of the sand and tideline.

Synonyms: scavenge, forage, scour