Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One who scavenges along beaches or in wharf areas.
  • noun A seaside vacationer.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A long wave rolling in from the ocean. Bartlett. [U. S.]
  • noun A seafaring man, generally of vagrant and drunken habits, who idles about the wharves of seaports: used most frequently in countries bordering on the Pacific ocean.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • (Naut.) A vagrant seaman, usually of low character, who loiters about seaports, particularly on the shores and islands of the Pacific Ocean.
  • a vagrant living on a beach.
  • a person who searches along a beach for objects of value, such as lost objects or seashells.
  • Amer., archaic A long, curling wave rolling in from the ocean. See comber.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun nautical A seaman who is not prepared to work but hangs around port areas living off the charity of others.
  • noun Any loafer around a waterfront.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a vagrant living on a beach

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

beach +‎ comber

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Examples

  • Harris, the beachcomber, is searching for his descendants, to whom she would like to give her finds.

    2009 March 10 « Scavenging 2009

  • Harris, the beachcomber, is searching for his descendants, to whom she would like to give her finds.

    Blue Angels Crash Relics Wash Up on Beach « Scavenging 2009

  • So a new idea was born, sometimes called the "beachcomber express," in which the first ex-Africans were seashore dwellers who spread rapidly around the coast of the Indian Ocean, showing an unexpected skill at seafaring to reach Australia across a strait that was at least 40 miles wide.

    Did Early Humans Ride the Waves to Australia? Matt Ridley 2012

  • One of them was a runaway sailor, who had been living on the island several years (such being termed a beachcomber), a Portuguese, and six Kanakas, as the natives are called.

    Peter Trawl The Adventures of a Whaler William Henry Giles Kingston 1847

  • Pay attention. dub the beachcomber: Big Kahuna, I haven't heard anything about Pinto or the other reliever whose name escapes me, that the cards picked up recently.

    STLtoday.com Top News Headlines 2010

  • I don't see it, which means TLR may announce next week his plans to audition Craig at the position next spring. dub the beachcomber: wave master, we have too many outfielders and the braves are looking for one. they have lots of pitching. do you see a match up? which card outfielder is most expendable and what caliber player could they bring? thanks joe

    STLtoday.com Top News Headlines 2010

  • Joe Strauss: LaRue's injury virtually demands a suspension for Cueto. dub the beachcomber: Joe, this won't be popular but the way I saw the brawl and the Cueto incident was that Cueto was backed up against the railing and panicked and began kicking.

    STLtoday.com Top News Headlines 2010

  • Joe Strauss: LaRue's injury virtually demands a suspension for Cueto. dub the beachcomber: Joe, this won't be popular but the way I saw the brawl and the Cueto incident was that Cueto was backed up against the railing and panicked and began kicking.

    STLtoday.com Top News Headlines 2010

  • After they are settling in, and Carey is recovering well, a "beachcomber", who reckons he is king of these islands, makes his appearance with a retinue of aborigines.

    King o' the Beach A Tropic Tale George Manville Fenn 1870

  • Although I read German -- desperately, like a beachcomber sifting sand on a bad day -- even I could make out the tone.

    Jan Herman: The Mind Sashays Jan Herman 2011

Comments

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  • An unemployed, penniless pony that spends all day scavenging the beaches in search of food.

    August 8, 2008

  • The psammophile relative of seahorses.

    August 18, 2008

  • A name for a wave that rolls across a beach.

    March 21, 2011