Pacific Coast
9
2.7
- noun
- /pəˈsɪfɪk koʊst/
:
Costa del Pacífico
- I flew into the smoky blue mist that was settling between the Pacific Ocean and the Pacific Coast Highway.
- Pacific Coast Indians
- Pacific Coast states
Examples
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The last we heard of him was a picture postcard from Mazatlan, on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, containing a message of two words.
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The Dude is running blearily down the middle of the Pacific Coast Highway.
Fiction book (1998) -
You come with me as far as the Pacific Coast.
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But let's just take this map as given, showing the least religious areas of the country, the Pacific Coast, New England and New York.
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She wants to take a drive down the Pacific Coast Highway.
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His experience centered on the Pacific Coast, but others testified to similar experiences throughout the country.
Academic text (2002) -
Traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway is jammed with cars stretching all the way back to Venice Beach.
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There are lots of beach bars on California's Pacific Coast Highway, but only one Moonshadows.
Blog text (14) -
Trout Unlimited and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations joined the suit.
Academic text (2007) -
I grew up on the Pacific Coast, so I felt at home in this region.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'Pacific' (pertaining to the Pacific Ocean) with 'coast' (land beside the sea); a learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to the coastline along the Pacific. This compositional pattern is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner familiar with the words would comprehend the phrase.
Etymology
Pacific Coast uses Pacific for the Pacific Ocean and Coast for the land beside the sea, so it gives the image of a long stretch of land next to the Pacific. That's why it means 'the land along the Pacific Ocean', often the western shore of the Americas.