ashore
Americanadverb
-
to the shore; onto the shore.
The schooner was driven ashore.
-
on the shore; on land rather than at sea or on the water.
The captain has been ashore for two hours.
adverb
adjective
Etymology
Origin of ashore
Explanation
When you go ashore, you move from the water to the land, usually in a boat. When you've tired of canoeing, you can paddle back to the edge of the lake and go ashore. An old rowboat might wash ashore, drifting up on the beach, or you might bring your kayak ashore after paddling from one island to another. You can also talk about being ashore after spending time on a boat or ship: "I'm ashore until Friday, and then I head back out on the cruise ship." The roots are a-, "to" or "toward," and shore, from the Middle Low German schōre, "shore, coast, or headland."
Vocabulary lists containing ashore
"Hitching a Ride"
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"Not-So-Starry Nights: Light Pollution Turns Night into Day"
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The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It took two hours for all of them to get ashore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
I learned the hard way how important one of these can be, when a two-minute cyclone tornado came ashore Long Island Sound a few years ago and hit a major transmission line.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
The objects include unexploded ordnance, drones and other unmanned vehicles found washed ashore or floating at sea, it said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
Earlier this month, a dinghy which had launched from near Cherbourg in the Bay of the Seine - further west than boats normally depart - was brought ashore in Hampshire, triggering protests in Portsmouth.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
On March 8, 3,500 Marines waded ashore at Da Nang.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
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.
