Jump To:

• 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.

---

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

---

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).

---

Shore ⁴ American  

[shawr, shohr] / ʃɔr, ʃoʊr /

noun

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

---

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

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

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

Turning to Wall Street, we go inside Anthropic’s efforts to shore up investor confidence ahead of what could be the largest IPO ever.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Anthropic tries to shore up investor confidence ahead of blockbuster IPO.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

Rescued from the shore of Big Bear Lake in mid-July, she was being cared for at the Ojai Raptor Center.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Two other people - a 16-year-old boy and a 24-year-old man - safely returned to shore, the force added.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

So when Nim was safely on the shore, Selkie headed the other sea lions out to the reef.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

Business has been humming along, Brian Keeler at renovation company West Shore Homes told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

Shore excursions include bespoke tours of local pubs in Prague and nighttime city treks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 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

The tickets were selling out, and Shore was charging $5 at the door, but none of the comics were getting paid.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

When we reached the Shore, the Tide was low, & there were Children there disporting themselves with Chum.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

In fact, Zhu shored up state power instead of letting it go but the comparison rang true in one respect: Like the Soviet leader, Zhu often won more accolades overseas than at home.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 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

Alphabet has shored up its advertising dominance while setting a new path as a top AI merchant.

From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026

Since the 1970s - when Britain ended trading agreements that had shored up New Zealand's economy and Australia introduced loosened work and travel restrictions - the outflow of people has surged sporadically.

From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026

They would need to make sure that all their weaknesses are shored up.

From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth

As the company worked on shoring up its manufacturing capacity, a cultural shift was under way that neither Novo nor Lilly predicted.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

As a method of coping and of shoring up the land, Ragusa enlisted a Sierra Madre company called Hardy Californians to plant a remediation seed mix across her lot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 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

He called Malone for help shoring up his balance sheet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026

‘He’s off at Mount Olympus in New York, shoring up the gods’ defences.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• bank
• beach
• border
• coast
• riverbank
• sand
• seaboard
• seashore
• waterfront