Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun 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.
  • noun The act or business of sailing along the coast or from port to port in the same country, for purposes of trade.
  • noun The sport of sliding on a sled down an incline covered with snow or ice.
  • noun Advances toward acquaintance; specifically, courtship.

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

  • noun A sailing along a coast, or from port to port; a carrying on a coasting trade.
  • noun Local, U. S. Sliding down hill; sliding on a sled upon snow or ice.
  • adjective Sailing along or near a coast, or running between ports along a coast.
  • adjective trade carried on by water between neighboring ports of the same country, as distinguished from foreign trade or trade involving long voyages.
  • adjective a vessel employed in coasting; a coaster.

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

  • verb Present participle of coast.
  • noun The act of sailing along a coast, or from port to port.

Etymologies

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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 Peter Stanford 2011

  • 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.

    USATODAY.com 2007

  • 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.

    Present Conditions in British Columbia 1911

  • 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.

    The Hills of the Shatemuc 1856

  • It's called coasting, and it's for people who don't want a mounted bike.

    Designing A Better World 2006

  • Eric the Red and his stout son, Leif Ericson, as pioneers in what may be termed coasting voyages of discovery.

    Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 5 of 8 A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History 1906

  • 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.

    BBC News - Home 2012

  • 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 John Franklin 1816

  • 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.

    The Journey to the Polar Sea John Franklin 1816

  • It's called coasting, and lets admit it they were tired.

    Yahoo! Sports - Top News 2010

Comments

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  • 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.

    June 19, 2008