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definitions

ashore

[uh-shawr, uh-shohr]
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adverb

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.

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Origin of ashore

First recorded in 1580–90; a-1 + shore1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ashore

Contemporary Examples of ashore

Historical Examples of ashore

  • The ships were undermanned, for the sailors, too, had been ashore feasting.

    The Trail Book

    Mary Austin

  • I was ashore every day while the squadron remained in the port.

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

  • There was no wharf, and it was always necessary to get ashore through a surf.

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

  • I never was more completely adrift, in my life, ashore or afloat.

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

  • I was now ashore, with two or three months of drift before me.

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for ashore

ashore

adverb

towards or onto land from the waterwe swam ashore

adjective, adverb (postpositive)

on land, having come from the watera day ashore before sailing
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for ashore
adv.

1580s, "toward the shore," from a- (1) + shore (n.). Meaning "on the shore" is from 1630s. Middle English had ashore (late 15c.), but it meant "on a slant," literally "propped up," from shore (v.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper