harbor

especially British, har·bour

[hahr-ber]

noun

1. a part of a body of water along the shore deep enough for anchoring a ship and so situated with respect to coastal features, whether natural or artificial, as to provide protection from winds, waves, and currents.

2. such a body of water having docks or port facilities.

3. any place of shelter or refuge.

   The old inn was a harbor for tired travelers.

   Synonyms: retreat, sanctuary, asylum

verb (used with object)

1. to give shelter to; offer refuge to.

   They harbored the refugees who streamed across the borders.

   Synonyms: lodge, protect

2. to conceal; hide.

   to harbor fugitives.

3. to keep or hold in the mind; maintain; entertain.

   to harbor suspicion.

4. to house or contain.

5. to shelter (a vessel), as in a harbor.

verb (used without object)

1. (of a vessel) to take shelter in a harbor.

Other Word Forms

• harborer noun
• harborless adjective
• harborous adjective
• unharbored adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of harbor¹

before 1150; Middle English herber ( we ), herberge, Old English herebeorg lodgings, quarters ( here army + ( ge ) beorg refuge); cognate with German Herberge

Synonym Study

Harbor, haven, port indicate a shelter for ships. A harbor may be natural or artificially constructed or improved: a fine harbor on the eastern coast. A haven is usually a natural harbor that can be utilized by ships as a place of safety; the word is common in literary use: a haven in time of storm; a haven of refuge. A port is a harbor viewed especially in its commercial relations, though it is frequently applied in the meaning of harbor or haven also: a thriving port; any old port in a storm. See cherish.

Example Sentences

Even after all this, Mr. Mamdani could have brought his city together by making it clear that most New Yorkers didn’t harbor animus over religion or race.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In August, nine Republican senators wrote Chavez-DeRemer asking the Labor Department to declare a “safe harbor” to insulate plans that offer alternative assets from lawsuits.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For some reason, conservatives have always harbored a special hostility for the food stamp program.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

What better way to do so than to plan a beautiful road trip through some of the best fall scenery around, only to end in incredible towns harboring rather spooky histories of their own?

Read more on MarketWatch

Pelicans glided over the cresting waves, while a harbor seal watched the surfers for a bit before diving under the surface and disappearing from sight.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• dock 
• inlet 
• pier 
• port 
• road 
• wharf