- the land along the edge of a sea, lake, or wide riverRelated adjective(s): littoral
- land, as opposed to water (esp in the phrase on shore)
- (as modifier): shore duty
- the tract of coastland lying between the ordinary marks of high and low water
- (often plural) a country: his native shores
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
shore1 /ʃɔr/USA pronunciation
n.
shore2 /ʃɔr/USA pronunciation v., shored, shor•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- the land along the edge of a sea, lake, etc.: [countable]a walk down by the shore.[uncountable]The marine was now serving on shore.
- some particular country:[countable]my native shore.
shore2 /ʃɔr/USA pronunciation v., shored, shor•ing.
- Building, Civil Engineeringto support or strengthen: [~ + object]shored the walls with timbers.[~ + up + object]The workers shored up the side of the wall with timbers.[~ + object + up]to shore the walls up.
shore1
(shôr, shōr),USA pronunciation n.
adj.
shore2 (shôr, shōr),USA pronunciation n., v., shored, shor•ing.
n.
Shore (shôr, shōr),USA pronunciation n.
- the land along the edge of a sea, lake, broad river, etc.
- some particular country:my native shore.
- land, as opposed to sea or water:a marine serving on shore.
- Lawthe space between the ordinary high-water and low-water mark.
adj.
- of, pertaining to, or located on land, esp. land along the edge of a body of water:a marine on shore duty.
- 1300–50; Middle English schore, Old English scora; cognate with Middle Dutch, Middle Low German schore; perh. akin to shear
- 1. strand, margin. Shore, bank, beach, coast refer to an edge of land abutting on an ocean, lake, or other large body of water. Shore is the general word:The ship reached shore.Bank denotes the land along a river or other watercourse, sometimes steep but often not:The river flows between its banks.Beach refers to sandy or pebbly margins along a shore, esp. those made wider at ebb tide:a private beach for bathers.Coast applies only to land along an ocean:the Pacific coast.
shore2 (shôr, shōr),USA pronunciation n., v., shored, shor•ing.
n.
- Building, Civil Engineeringa supporting post or beam with auxiliary members, esp. one placed obliquely against the side of a building, a ship in drydock, or the like;
prop;
strut. - Building, Civil Engineeringto support by or as if by a shore or shores;
prop (usually fol. by up):to shore up a roof; government subsidies to shore up falling corn prices. - 1300–50; (noun, nominal) Middle English; cognate with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch schore prop; (verb, verbal) shoren, derivative of the noun, nominal
v.t.
- 1. brace, buttress, stay.
- to threaten (someone).
- to offer or proffer (something).
- ?
- Middle English (Scots) schore 1325–75
Shore (shôr, shōr),USA pronunciation n.
- Biographical Jane, 1445?–1527, mistress of Edward IV of England.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
shore /ʃɔː/ n
shore /ʃɔː/ n
- a prop, post, or beam used to support a wall, building, ship in dry dock, etc
- (transitive) often followed by up: to prop or make safe with or as if with a shore
shore /ʃɔː/ vb
- Austral NZ
a past tense of shear
'shore up' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):