The beach was deserted, except for a few seagulls scavenging for food.

Meaning: The sentence describes the beach being empty, with only a few seagulls looking for food.

Choice of Words: Deserted means empty or abandoned. Except means excluding or leaving out something. Scavenging means searching for food, especially in a disorganized way.

Alternative Expressions

The beach was empty, save for a few seagulls looking for something to eat.

Meaning: This sentence means the same as the first example, that the beach was empty except for a few seagulls that were looking for food.

Choice of Words: The beach was empty, which means there was no one there. Save means the same as except, so there was an exception to the emptiness, which were the seagulls. Looking means the seagulls were searching and eat means they were searching for food.

The beach was lonesome, with only a handful of seagulls hunting for their next meal.

Meaning: This sentence means the same as the first two examples, that the beach was empty except for a few seagulls that were looking for food.

Choice of Words: The beach was lonesome, which means it was empty and quiet. With means that there was something else there besides the emptiness, which were the seagulls. Handful means a small number, so there were only a few seagulls. Hunting means the seagulls were searching and meal means they were searching for food.

Related Expressions