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• shore
  shore

  noun

  the land along the edge of a sea, lake, broad river, etc.
• Shore
  Shore

  noun

  Jane, 1445?–1527, mistress of Edward IV of England.

shore

¹ American  

[shawr, shohr] / ʃɔr, ʃoʊr /

noun

1. 

   the land along the edge of a sea, lake, broad river, etc.

   Synonyms:

   margin, strand

2. some particular country.

   my native shore.

3. land, as opposed to sea or water.

   a marine serving on shore.

4. Law. the space between the ordinary high-water and low-water mark.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or located on land, especially land along the edge of a body of water.

   a marine on shore duty.

shore ² American  

[shawr, shohr] / ʃɔr, ʃoʊr /

noun

1. a supporting post or beam with auxiliary members, especially one placed obliquely against the side of a building, a ship in drydock, or the like; prop; strut.

   Synonyms:

   stay, buttress, brace

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verb (used with object)

shored, shoring

1. to support by or as if by a shore or shores; prop (usually followed byup ).

   to shore up a roof; government subsidies to shore up falling corn prices.

shore ³ American  

[shawr, shohr] / ʃɔr, ʃoʊr /

verb (used with object)

Scot. and North England.

shored, shoring

1. to threaten (someone).

2. to offer or proffer (something).

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Shore ⁴ American  

[shawr, shohr] / ʃɔr, ʃoʊr /

noun

1. Jane, 1445?–1527, mistress of Edward IV of England.

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shore ¹ British  

/ ʃɔː /

noun

1. the land along the edge of a sea, lake, or wide river

2. 1. land, as opposed to water (esp in the phrase on shore )

   2. ( as modifier )

      shore duty

3. law the tract of coastland lying between the ordinary marks of high and low water

4. (often plural) a country

   his native shores

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verb

1. (tr) to move or drag (a boat) onto a shore

shore ² British  

/ ʃɔː /

noun

1. a prop, post, or beam used to support a wall, building, ship in dry dock, etc

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verb

1. to prop or make safe with or as if with a shore

shore ³ British  

/ ʃɔː /

verb

1. a past tense of shear

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Usage

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.

• Real-life examples: Boats are docked along shores. Many shores have beautiful, sandy beaches. MTV once filmed an infamous reality show on the shore of New Jersey.
• Used in a sentence: Eve liked to watch the deer relax along the shore of the lake. 

Shore is also used generally to mean any land. This sense is often used as a contrast to water, such as when talking about sailing or boating.

• Used in a sentence: When I was in the Coast Guard, I didn’t spend much time on shore.

Shore can also mean a country.

• Used in a sentence: I want to return to my native shore of Wales. 

As a verb, shore means to support or to bolster. In this sense, it is often followed by the word up.

• Real-life examples: A builder might shore up a roof with several posts. You might shore up your essay with quotes from the research you did. A government can shore up the solar energy industry by giving solar panel manufacturers tax breaks.
• Used in a sentence: The president planned to shore up the economy by giving aid to small businesses. 

Related to this sense, shore is used as a noun to mean a beam or post that acts as a support.

• Used in a sentence: We used steel shores to keep the side wall from falling down. 

Synonym Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

• shoring
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of shore¹

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

Origin of shore²

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

Origin of shore³

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English ( Scots ) schore, of uncertain origin and meaning

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Explanation

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shore Shore shored shoring

First, businesses can advocate for increased Perkins V resources federally, while pushing state and local policymakers to shore up additional program funding.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 9, 2026

A forced slowdown on AI spending could prove beneficial for the hyperscalers and enable them to shore up their balance sheets.

From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026

Yet to shore up utilities’ risk profile and prevent upward pressure on utility rates, he said, the state will probably have to grant some liability caps.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026

Next came the Maryland shore, to see my long-ago boss and his wife.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Maybe, he thought, I should try to swim to shore now.

From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret

Golf legend Tiger Woods is heading up a new private golf destination on the North Shore of Long Island in Brookville, N.Y.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 11, 2026

Kaminetsky expanded same-day delivery to more locations, including the Jersey Shore, after shoppers who summered there asked why the service was available in the Hamptons but not the Shore.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

After successfully climbing over some large rocks and a fence, Bellin made her way to the East Shore Bike Trail and walked barefoot and injured back to the beach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Council officers have been out visiting premises in the area to explain how the More by the Shore campaign , externalwill work and listen to feedback.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

“Your Honor, Michael Griswald has lived his entire life on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He is one of five children in his family.”

From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings

Raman entered the race as a long-shot candidate but slowly shored up support, especially from younger voters, before besting reality star Spencer Pratt in the primary race earlier this year.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

They shored up the building's foundations with wood and steel to prevent the partially destroyed structure from collapsing further.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

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

But a deal to buy the Artisan natural-gas field has shored up concerns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

It’s an attractive and drizzly winter’s night, scraps of melting snow shored up against the edges of the Place de la Concorde, the city looking ghostly, its windows jeweled with raindrops.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

In a statement released after her election victory, the Police Protective League’s board of directors said it shares a common goal with Raman of shoring up the department’s recruitment of new officers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2026

The non-binding "35 by 35" target is key to a 10-point Action Agenda that Turkey says will speed up the shift to renewables while shoring up energy security.

From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2026

Bulldozers have been shoring up the beach to try and prevent further flooding.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Governments desperately shoring up supplies of oil and gas have less time to worry about the consequences of burning them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Foremole and his team knew all there was to know about the diggings: depth, approximate dimensions, the placement of shoring, even where the first rat’s head was likely to break ground.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

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Related Words

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