harbor

American  

[hahr-ber] / ˈhɑr bər /

especially British, harbour

noun

harbors plural

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

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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.

Synonym Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• harbors
  plural

Etymology

Origin of harbor

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

Explanation

A harbor is a safe place providing refuge and comfort. If you're traveling, the harbor provided by a warm hotel is welcome. For ships, a harbor is a sheltered port area shielded from waves, where it's safe to dock. Harbor can also be used as a verb, which describes maintaining a belief or a feeling. If you harbor ill-will toward your neighbor John, you don't like him much. Harbor can also mean you hold back your ideas and don't express them openly. John may have no idea you hate him if you harbor your true feelings deep inside, but pretend you like him to his face.

Example Sentences

Vital supplies went down with ships sunk by winter storms or sat idle in the harbor at Balaclava while men died on the heights above.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 6, 2026

Upon sailing into the harbor, they realized the frigate was too damaged to sail, so rather than leave it in enemy hands, they burned it to the waterline.

From Salon • Jul. 4, 2026

In a letter to the Labor Department, the CFP Board warned that the proposal’s prescribed process and safe harbor “create a serious risk that prudence will be reduced to a check-the-box exercise.”

From Barron's • Jun. 16, 2026

He noted that the federal contribution to rebuild the breakwater, which creates the inner harbor that allows fishermen and lobstermen to work, was $6 million.

From Slate • Jun. 16, 2026

They could hear honking as a few more cars pulled up to the harbor.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

Related Words

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