1. A sandy beach at a seaside resort.
2. A bright and intensely hot area in the sun's chromosphere, usually associated with a sunspot.

[French, from Italian piaggia, ultimately from Greek plagia, neuter pl. of plagios, oblique, slanting. See plagal.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.