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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

State leaders say they have used their own resources to shore up gaps left by CISA, such as paying for sensor technology that can detect unusual activity in election networks.

From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026

What we don’t agree on is how to shore up the system to keep it viable for future generations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

"You're going out, canvassing, getting your vote and making sure you shore up certain blocks from certain countries, and why wouldn't you?" adds Kirkham.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

Social Security benefits may be cut by 26% in 2032 unless Congress acts to shore up the system, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026

They were bearing us away from the trail and the shore, into the sea.

From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell

Tyler Mezin, 51, lives on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, one of the premier surf spots in the world.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026

Executives were trying to solve a puzzle: They could see some clients in Chicago’s affluent North Shore suburbs weren’t buying from the downtown Chicago store.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 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

An incredible visual artist, he’s known for his painting of the late Mitzi Shore that sits in the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast studio.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Their daughter was supposed to have a husband who could buy her a summer house at the Jersey Shore and send her children to Jewish schools.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

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

The Dodgers shored up the bullpen over the winter, signing three-time all-star Edwin Díaz to a three-year, $69-million contract.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2026

Surprisingly resilient consumer spending shored up an uncertain economic backdrop.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025

The sides of the pit had to be shored with timber.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Meanwhile, Network Rail has acknowledged a squeezed budget means difficult choices, and shoring up the network against the effects of more extreme weather requires investment.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

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

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the country needs to focus on ending the war and shoring up its crippled economy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Iran’s top politicians said the country needs to focus on ending the war and shoring up its crippled economy, pushing back publicly against hard-liners who are taking a more defiant approach in the six-month-old conflict.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

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

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

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Related Words

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

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