to threaten (someone).
to offer or proffer (something).
the land along the edge of a sea, lake, or wide river
land, as opposed to water (esp in the phrase on shore )
( as modifier )
shore duty
law the tract of coastland lying between the ordinary marks of high and low water
(often plural) a country
his native shores
What is a basic definition of shore? A shore is land that is located along the edge of a body of water. Shore can also be used more generally to mean any land or a particular country. As a verb, shore means to support something. If a certain area of land touches or runs alongside a body of water, it is a shore. For example, a fisherman would stand at a river’s shore while fishing in it. A shore is similar to a coast or a beach. A coast is a shore that specifically meets the ocean. A beach is a part of a shore covered in sand and pebbles.
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, especially those made wider at ebb tide: a private beach for bathers. Coast applies only to land along an ocean: the Pacific coast.
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English score, Old English scora (recorded only in place names); cognate with Middle Dutch, Middle Low German schore; perhaps akin to shear
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English noun shore, score; cognate with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch schore “prop”; the verb is derivative of the noun
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English ( Scots ) schore, of uncertain origin and meaning
The land right at the edge of a lake, river, or ocean is called the shore. Even the bravest swimmers will head for the shore when they hear someone yell "Shark!" The verb shore means "prop up or support," so you might shore up a house that's tilting on its foundation or shore up a failing company with an investment of money. The water's-edge shore has a Germanic root that means "cut," and experts believe that the noun shore grew either from a sense of "division between land and water," or possibly "land cut off from the mainland by marshes."
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For the next hour or so, the volunteers sift through the seagrass as it lays flat on the shore.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Nature also produces sounds in this range through sources such as ocean waves striking the shore and wind moving across the landscape.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
Rescue teams scrambled to pull 17 people to safety, but after reaching the shore the man who was given CPR was pronounced dead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
If this benefit cut occurs, workers will need longer, not shorter, careers to shore up their retirements.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
The wooden pier, unused for a dozen years, jutted several hundred feet out from shore.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
Tents, cabanas and canopies have been banned along stretches of the Jersey Shore for the last two years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026
Historians Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore, as well as philosopher Jason Stanley, left their jobs at Yale University to take positions at the University of Toronto.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
By the mid 1970s, Dreesen had convinced Comedy Store head honcho Mitzi Shore that he was worth his weight in jokes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
“They went monumental,” Shore said of the artists’ scale.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
It was cold at Christmastime, cold in the winter there on the Eastern Shore.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
They’d loved hiking the Great Wall of China and participating in 150-mile bike rides, and had shored up their finances to retire early.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
Alphabet has shored up its advertising dominance while setting a new path as a top AI merchant.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Even as its major military capabilities have been all but wiped out, it has shored up its defense through the agile use of cheap drones, mines and other devices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
The Dodgers shored up the bullpen over the winter, signing three-time all-star Edwin Díaz to a three-year, $69-million contract.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2026
The sides of the pit had to be shored with timber.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Temporary shoring and beams have been completely installed on floors 18 through 23, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Wednesday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Lopez spent the next three years along with her fellow progressive Santa Ana council members shoring up the city’s rent control policies and its immigrant defense fund.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
But the visit is also about shoring up India's position in the wider Gulf in the wake of Middle East conflict.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
The prime minister returned early from a overseas trip to countries in South East Asia, aimed at shoring up oil supplies, to visit the facility on Friday.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026
In October 1985, the DEA sent Robert Stutman to serve as director of its New York City office and charged him with the responsibility of shoring up public support for the administration’s new war.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
