shore

lake shore; bay shore; gulf shore; island shore; mainland shore; river shore; estuary shore; pond shore; sandy shore; rocky shore

the fruitful shore of muddy Nile

1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Visions of the Worlds Vanitie”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC:

Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges[…]: or anon we shot into a clearing, with a colored glimpse of the lake and its curving shore far below us.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

Land adjoining a non-flowing body of water, such as an ocean, lake or pond.

The seamen were serving on shore instead of in ships.

The passengers signed up for shore tours.

(from the perspective of one on a body of water) Land, usually near a port.

From Middle English schore, from Old English *sċora (attested as sċor- in placenames), from Proto-Germanic *skurô (“rugged rock, cliff, high rocky shore”). Possibly related to Old English sċieran (“to cut”), which survives today as English shear.
Cognate with Middle Dutch scorre (“land washed by the sea”), Middle Low German schor (“shore, coast, headland”), Middle High German schorre ("rocky crag, high rocky shore"; > German Schorre, Schorren (“towering rock, crag”)), and Limburgish sjaor (“riverbank”). Maybe connected with Norwegian Bokmål skjær.

gloss

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger


shore

the ship quickened her way, and shot past that rocke, where wee thought shee would have shored.

1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, […], London: […] George Bishop and Ralph Newberie, deputies to Christopher Barker, […], →OCLC:

(obsolete, intransitive) To arrive at the shore

I will bring these two moles, these blind ones, aboard him: if he think it fit to shore them again

c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909

en-verb

shore (third-person singular simple present shores, present participle shoring, simple past and past participle shored)

shores (present singular third-person)
shoring (participle present)
shored (participle past)
shored (past)


shore

The shores stayed upright during the earthquake.

A prop or strut supporting some structure or weight above it.

From Late Middle English shore (“a prop, a support”) [and other forms], from Middle Dutch schore, schare (“a prop, a stay”) (modern Dutch schoor), and Middle Low German schōre, schāre (“a prop, a stay; barrier; stockade”) (compare Old Norse skorða (“a prop, a stay”) (Norwegian skor, skorda)); further etymology unknown.


shore

If houses were present these could be used to conceal the mine opening. As the mine progressed the roof was shored with timbers.

1990, Christopher Gravett, Richard Hook, Medieval Siege Warfare, page 45:

Sometimes it's easier to laminate the strips one at a time, shoring each in place only long enough for the epoxy to set.

1993, Jim Trefethen, Wooden Boat Renovation: New Life for Old Boats using Modern Methods, page 106:

These are called shored exit wounds. They are characterized by a broad, irregular band of abrasion of the skin around the exit. In such wounds the skin is reinforced, or "shored," by a firm surface at the instant the bullet exits.

1999, Vincent J. M. Di Maio, Gunshot Wounds, page 94:

It must provide the same degree of protection offered by a complete shoring system. Shoring Excavations Shallow trenches can be shored using wood sheet piling braced by stringers and rakers

1999, William P. Spence, Carpentry & Building Construction: A Do-It-Yourself Guide, page 14:

Not followed by up: to provide (something) with support.

My family shored me up after I failed the GED.

The workers were shoring up the dock after part of it fell into the water.

... but his caravels were so much worm-eaten and shattered by storms that he could not reach that island, and was forced to run them on shore in a creek on the coast of Jamaica, where he shored them upright with spars

1811, Robert Kerr, A General History of Voyages and Travels to the End of the 18th Century, volume III, page 342:

Usually followed by up: to reinforce (something at risk of failure).

From Late Middle English shoren (“to prop, to support”) [and other forms], from Middle English shore (“a prop, a support”) (see etymology 2) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive form of verbs); compare Middle Dutch schooren (“to prop up, support”) and Middle Low German schore (“to shovel; to sweep”).


shore

Then Frodo stepped up to the great grey net, and hewed it with a wide sweeping stroke[…]. The blue-gleaming blade shore through them like a scythe through grass […].

1954, J R R Tolkien, “Shelob's Lair”, in The Two Towers: The second part of The Lord of the Rings, 2nd edition, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1966, page 331:


shore

Emptie olde receptacles, or common-shores of filthe.

c. 1607–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, [George Wilkins?], The Late, and Much Admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: […] [William White and Thomas Creede] for Henry Gosson, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]:

I need not mention the old common-shore of Rome.

1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:


shore

Perhaps a variant of score or sure, equivalent to assure.


shore

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

en-adv

shore (comparative more shore, superlative most shore)

more shore (comparative)
most shore (superlative)