Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The act or business of sailing along the coast or from port to port in the same country, for purposes of trade.
- n. The sport of sliding on a sled down an incline covered with snow or ice.
- n. Advances toward acquaintance; specifically, courtship.
- n. In railroading, the act of allowing a train or a ear to run upon a down grade by its own gravity, without steam or electric power.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Sailing along or near a coast, or running between ports along a coast.
- n. A sailing along a coast, or from port to port; a carrying on a coasting trade.
- n. Local, U. S. Sliding down hill; sliding on a sled upon snow or ice.
Examples
“The phrase "coasting schools", though it has acquired a new buzz in the education debate, has a longer history than this government.”
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph
“None of them played more than 28 minutes in coasting to a win over Indiana in San Antonio on Thursday night, and coach Gregg Popovich also had a chance to rest his vocal cords - he was ejected in the second quarter for arguing a no-call against Pacers forward Mike Dunleavy.”
“The navigation returns for 1909 show that we had 5,000 sea-going vessels sailing from British Columbia ports, while there were 20,000 vessels engaged in coasting trade, representing in all over 9,000,000 tons of shipping.”
“Not to steer; for Hildebrand was much too accustomed an oarsman to need any such help in coasting the river for miles up and down.”
“It's called coasting, and it's for people who don't want a mounted bike.”
“Eric the Red and his stout son, Leif Ericson, as pioneers in what may be termed coasting voyages of discovery.”
“Sir Michael Wilshaw Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael was speaking ahead of a Downing Street summit on so-called "coasting" schools - where performance, often in well-off areas, is not necessarily inadequate but has failed to impress.”
“They had traced the lake about fifteen miles farther than we did, and found it undoubtedly connected, as we had supposed, with the lake we fell in with on the 22nd of September; and dreading, as we had done, the idea of coasting its barren shores, they returned to make an attempt at crossing here.”
Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1819-20-21-22, Volume 2
“They had traced the lake about fifteen miles farther than we did and found it undoubtedly connected, as we had supposed, with the lake we fell in with on the 22nd of September and, dreading as we had done, the idea of coasting its barren shores, they returned to make an attempt at crossing here.”
“It's called coasting, and lets admit it they were tired.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘coasting’.
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excelsior
The shades of night were falling fast,
As through an Alpine village passed
A youth, who bore, mid snow and ice,
A banner with the strange device,
Excelsior! - Longfellowwood shavings, lofty, heights, motto, 24 lines to the inch, falchion, spectral glaciers, falling star, Cinclodes excelsior, hornero, Paracelsus, parcels and 18 more...
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skipvia's Words
syzygy, egg, lossy, catharsis, impuissance, truckle, obsequious, sequoia, sonot khazoot, alizarin, sepulchre, klister and 434 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for coasting.
skipvia The practice of sailboats traveling south along the US Atlantic coast to travel close to the shore to catch the southerly Labrador current and avoid the northerly Gulf Stream current farther offshore.
"Coasting" has an interesting double sense here--to coast along with a current and to stay close to the coast. Jun 19, 2008