shore up

phrasal verb

shored up; shoring up; shores up

1

: to support (something) or keep (something) from falling by placing something under or against it

They shored up the roof/wall.

2

: to support or help (something)

The tax cuts are supposed to shore up the economy.

Examples of shore up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Successful contemporary authoritarians, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, tend to ride into office on a wave of popular support and then shore up those high approval ratings while chipping away at governing institutions. —Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 20 Jan. 2026

Stymied in her own professional endeavors but ever resourceful, Yas has invited both Bevan and Tender’s co-founder and acting CEO, Whitney Halberstram (Max Minghella), to the party in hopes of shoring up his prospects. —Judy Berman, Time, 19 Jan. 2026

With Ruto eyeing reelection in 2027, the government is desperate to execute projects that can help shore up its popularity. —Martin K.n Siele, semafor.com, 19 Jan. 2026

The move, aimed at reshoring and shoring up America’s drone industry, took many observers by surprise given the state of domestic drone supply chains. —Jared Perlo, NBC news, 18 Jan. 2026

Rhymes for shore up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup