coast

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
coast/kəʊst/

▶noun

• 1 the part of the land adjoining or near the sea.

• 2 the easy movement of a vehicle without the use of power.

▶verb

• 1 (of a vehicle) move easily without using power.

  ■ be successful with little effort: they coasted to victory.

• 2 sail along the coast.

– phrases
the coast is clear there is no danger of being observed or caught.

– derivatives
coastal adjective,
coastwise adjective & adverb.

– origin ME (in the sense ‘side of the body’), from OFr. coste (n.), costeier (v.), from L. costa ‘rib, flank, side’.