Etymology 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.
1
Land adjoining a non-flowing body of water, such as an ocean, lake or pond.
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 Nile1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Visions of the Worlds Vanitie”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC:
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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:
Floods in the middle Yangtse were frequent in the past. The Yangtse carries less silt than the Yellow River. But under the old regimes, the Chingkiang section (the section of the middle Yangtse between Chihchiang County in Hupeh Province and Chenglingchi in Hunan Province), the shores of the Tungting Lake and the lower reaches of the Han Shui were frequently flooded, causing great damage to the vast plain of Hupeh and Hunan.1958, Wang Chun-heng, “The Middle Yangtse Region”, in A Simple Geography of China (China Knowledge Series), Peking: Foreign Languages Press, →OCLC, page 117:
2
Land, usually near a port.
From the perspective of one on a body of water
The seamen were serving on shore instead of on ships.
Etymology 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.
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:
I will bring these two moles, these blind ones, aboard him: if he think it fit to shore them againc. 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]:
Etymology 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.
1
A prop or strut supporting some structure or weight above it.
The shores stayed upright during the earthquake.
shore
verb
Etymology 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”).
1
Not followed by up: to provide (something) with support.
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:
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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 rakers1999, William P. Spence, Carpentry & Building Construction: A Do-It-Yourself Guide, page 14:
2
Usually followed by up: to reinforce (something at risk of failure).
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.
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... 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 spars1811, Robert Kerr, A General History of Voyages and Travels to the End of the 18th Century, volume III, page 342:
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
verb
Etymology Uncertain. The word is attested in Northern English and Scots; the DSL states that schore "to threaten" is attested before 1400 (a corresponding noun schoyr is attested since 1375: "vith gret schoyr and mannasyng" in Barbour's Bruce), and suggests it might ultimately be related to Old Scots schoir "steep (of a crag)", related to shear. Alternatively, it has been suggested that it might be a variant of score or sure and related to assure.
1
Scotland, Archaic To threaten or warn unpleasant consequences (for someone); (sometimes) to threaten or warn off or scare away.
The Gleds might pyked her at the dyke, Before the lads wad shored them off her.1810, Robert-Hartley Cromek, Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song: with Historical and Traditional Notices Relative to the Manners and Customs of the Peasantry. Now First Published, page 98:
Bess flew till him […] and with her fatal Knife shored she would geld him, For peace that day.1866, Allan Ramsay, The Poetical Works, with Selections from the Scottish Poets Before Burns, page 59:
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... a' the freits that were begun To shore us ill Shall, in the crackin' of a gun, Flee owre the hill.1891, James Logie Robertson, Ochil Idylls: And Other Poems, page 66:
For a' our tears and sighs are but in vain: Come, help me up; — yon sooty cloud shores rain.1733, Allan Ramsay, “A Pastoral on the death of M. Prior”, in Poems: By Allan Ramsay. With New Additions and Notes, page 210:
[…] the cauld win' louder blew, Shorin' o' drift,[…]1860, William Watt, Poems, on sacred and other subjects; and songs, humorous and sentimental ... Third edition of the songs only-with additional songs, page 34: