The edge or margin of a country bounding on the sea. It is held that the term includes small islands and reefs naturally connected with the adjacent land, and rising above the surface of the water, although their composition may not be sufficiently firm and stable to admit of their be- COAST : ing Inhabited or fortified; but not shoals which are perpetually covered by the water. U. S. v. Pope, 28 Fed. Cas. 630; Hamilton y. Menifee, 11 Tex. 751. This word is particularly appropriate to the edge of the sea, while “shore” may be used of the margins of inland waters .
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
