harbour
Americannoun
noun
-
a sheltered port
-
a place of refuge or safety
verb
-
(tr) to give shelter to
to harbour a criminal
-
(tr) to maintain secretly
to harbour a grudge
-
to shelter (a vessel) in a harbour or (of a vessel) to seek shelter
Spelling
See -or 1.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of harbour
Old English herebeorg, from here troop, army + beorg shelter; related to Old High German heriberga hostelry, Old Norse herbergi
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A peatland that deep has been known to harbour more than 6,000 tonnes of carbon – roughly equivalent to the annual CO₂ emissions of 4,800 cars – per hectare.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Neither grey nor harbour seals are protected from intentional or reckless disturbance under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Archaeologists have found pieces of Greek pottery, as well as rooms and large jars for storing goods from the harbour, discoveries that Karam said showed the ancient city's "lively commercial activity".
From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026
"We try to work together with the polluters, and slowly phase them out," says Oscar van Veen, director of innovation at the Port of Rotterdam, speaking on a small boat in the harbour.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
He fitted the rope lashings of the oars onto the thole pins and, leaning forward against the thrust of the blades in the water, he began to row out of the harbour in the dark.
From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
