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groyne - n., a rigid structure built out from a shore to protect it from erosion or to trap sediment.
Extending into the water, like piers. Apparently it's tricky to space them the right distance based on the speed of the prevailing current. Wikipedia has more, including pictures. Unlike the other sense of groin, which comes from an Old English word meaning abyss, this comes from obsolete word groin meaning pig's snout, apparently because a low sea wall was thought to look like one, from Old French groin, from Latin grunnire, grunt.
---L.
Extending into the water, like piers. Apparently it's tricky to space them the right distance based on the speed of the prevailing current. Wikipedia has more, including pictures. Unlike the other sense of groin, which comes from an Old English word meaning abyss, this comes from obsolete word groin meaning pig's snout, apparently because a low sea wall was thought to look like one, from Old French groin, from Latin grunnire, grunt.
---L.
