beach flea

7.4

A small animal that jumps like a flea and lives on sandy beaches

noun
/biːtʃ fliː/

Specialized

: pulga de playa

Children love to watch the beach fleas hop around the shoreline at low tide.

Examples

After lifting a piece of driftwood, we spotted a dozen beach fleas scurrying away.
Some anglers use beach fleas as bait when fishing near the coast.
I saw a beach flea jump on the sand.
Many beach fleas can be found near the water.
Children love to watch the beach fleas hop around the shoreline at low tide.
After lifting a piece of driftwood, we spotted a dozen beach fleas scurrying away.
Some anglers use beach fleas as bait when fishing near the coast.

Synonyms

sand flea

vsbeach flea

1 5.4

A small jumping animal like a tiny flea that lives on sandy beaches

is the same creature but named by a habitat term

amphipod

vsbeach flea

Specialized

1 9.9

A small sea or freshwater animal like a tiny shrimp that lives on the bottom

is the specific beach hopping form within that broader group

sandhopper

vsbeach flea

9.9

A small animal like a tiny shrimp that hops on beaches

is the same animal expressed with a different common name

sand hopper

vsbeach flea

7.7

A small beach animal that jumps like a flea

is the same animal but written as a single word in other form

Surface Forms

beach flea singular

beach fleas plural

Morphology

beach + flea

The noun-noun compound 'beach flea' is directly compositional: 'beach' (shore) + 'flea' (a small jumping insect) yields a small hopping creature found on beaches, which matches the provided definition. This modifier+head pattern is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common formation, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Beach flea is a very literal name: beach for where it lives and flea because it jumps like a flea. So the name means 'a small, hopping crustacean found on the shore'.