often attributive
1
: the land bordering a usually large body of water
specifically
: coast
2
: a boundary (as of a country) or an area within a boundary
—usually used in plural
immigrated to these shores
3
: land as distinguished from the sea
shipboard and shore duty
: a prop for preventing sinking or sagging
shored; shoring
Examples of shore in a Sentence
Noun (2)
the carpenter placed a shore underneath the sagging roof of the porch
Verb
a highway tunnel shored up by massive columns of concrete
used an avalanche of statistics to shore up his claim that the state's economy is in fine shape
Recent Examples on the Web
Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 31 May 2026
In Kalokol, a major fishing community on the lake's western shore, many have now been displaced three times as the waters continue to encroach.
—Tommy Trenchard, NPR, 31 May 2026
Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 28 May 2026
Instead, the aim would be to take measures to assess where AI is low on mental health capacities and shore it up overall.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 23 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for shore
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Noun
Many ports still struggle to deploy shore power at scale because of limited grid capacity, lengthy utility connection timelines, space constraints, complex permitting requirements, and the high costs associated with conventional shore-side power installations.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 31 May 2026
In Kalokol, a major fishing community on the lake's western shore, many have now been displaced three times as the waters continue to encroach.
—Tommy Trenchard, NPR, 31 May 2026
Verb
Sam Proffitt, the director of the Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue, and his team were able to bring Woods and her nephew to shore.
—Sam Gillette, PEOPLE, 28 May 2026
Instead, the aim would be to take measures to assess where AI is low on mental health capacities and shore it up overall.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 23 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for shore
Cite this Entry
“Shore.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shore. Accessed 1 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
shore
1 of 3 noun
ˈshō(ə)r 
ˈshȯ(ə)r
: the land along the edge of a body of water (as the sea)
shore
2 of 3 verb
shored; shoring
: to support with one or more bracing timbers
shore up a house foundation
shore
3 of 3 noun
: a prop or support placed under or against something to support it
Etymology
Noun
Middle English shore "the land on the edge of a body of water"
Verb
Middle English shoren "to support, brace"
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