berm

noun

terrace formed by wave action along a beach, just above the shoreline

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /bɜː(ɹ)m/

noun

Etymology: From Dutch berm (“strip of roadside grass, verge”), probably via French berme, from Middle Dutch barm, baerm, barem (“verge, bank”), from Old Dutch *barm, from Proto-West Germanic *barm, from Proto-Germanic *barmaz (“edge, border, seam”).

A narrow ledge or shelf, as along the top or bottom of a slope.
A raised bank or path, especially the bank of a canal opposite the towpath.
“The big canals in Europe, in Holland, have a great big berm on the side of the canal several feet wide, which they leave there on purpose to plant reeds in, so as to get a reedy vegetation to protect their slope. Then, beyond that, there is an earthen slope that is grassed and sodded.”
One of the flat terraces on the slope of an open-pit mine.
A terrace or shelf of sand along a beach, formed above the high tide water level by wave action.
“On some beaches, the berm grows higher in summer and flattens out in the rougher winter seas.”
A long mound or bank of earth, used especially as a barrier or to provide insulation.
“A berm separates the Moroccan-controlled and Polisario-controlled parts of Western Sahara.”
A small wall along the edge of a bench of an open-pit mine, intended to prevent items falling over the crest.
A ledge between the parapet and the moat in a fortification.
A strip of land between a street and sidewalk.
“The sun soaked our street in hot yellow, and the berms were gasping for water.”
The edge of a road.

verb

To provide something with a berm