shoring (up)

verb

Definition of shoring (up)next
present participle of shore (up)
1
as in sustaining
to hold up or serve as a foundation for a highway tunnel shored up by massive columns of concrete

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in reinforcing
to provide evidence or information for (as a claim or idea) used an avalanche of statistics to shore up his claim that the state's economy is in fine shape

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoring (up)
  1. sustaining
  2. reinforcing
  3. carrying
  4. bolstering
  5. supporting
  6. proving
  7. staying
Verb
  • Last year at the Venice Film Festival, Italy’s Fondazione Prada officially launched its film fund, aimed at sustaining independent cinema from around the world without any restrictions on theme, genre or language.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Meanwhile, left tackle Rashawn Slater, who missed all of last season after sustaining a knee injury in training camp, was sidelined for much of August because of a flare-up to that same knee.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of sustaining
Verb
  • Interiors are seamlessly integrated into the environment, reinforcing the very restraint and repose the hospitality group has become so renowned for since its inception in 1988.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Sep. 2026
  • As a result, non-Jewish sources have necessarily had to be privileged, a fact which has the unfortunate effect of reinforcing Jewish exclusion.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of reinforcing
Verb
  • Judge returned to the Yankees’ lineup Tuesday night carrying an astonishing 177 OPS+ in his career.
    — Jayson Stark, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Of the new vulnerabilities, 112 of them are rated critical, with the remainder carrying the important designation.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of carrying
Verb
  • The United States added 162,000 jobs in August, more than double what a consensus of economists had expected, bolstering confidence that the economy remains on solid footing.
    — Laurent Belsie, Christian Science Monitor, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The map, barring any major changes, will revert back to the boundaries lawmakers approved in 2022, bolstering Cleaver’s chances of reelection.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of bolstering
Verb
  • The company says the plant could provide roughly 400 MW of electrical power without the risk of plasma disruptions, supporting its intended role as a source of baseload energy.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Finland has also been an attractive location for digital infrastructure supporting social media workloads, with TikTok planning on expanding its data center capacity in the country.
    — Kai Nicol-Schwarz, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of supporting
Verb
  • His strategy at United has been all about proving that an airline can be something more.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 11 Sep. 2026
  • The suits say continuous noise from data centers’ cooling systems and power generators is substantially interfering with local neighbors’ use and enjoyment of their property — a legal standard for proving a private nuisance.
    — Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of proving
Verb
  • Depending on the balance between the reward for staying silent (cooperating) and betrayal, the game stabilizes with everyone betraying everyone.
    — Chris Lee, ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Joey King got one of the boxes, but the Kimmel family’s ears will be staying clean for a while.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of staying
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

shorings
shoring (up)
shorn
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shoring (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shoring%20%28up%29. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of empirical

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All