shore

Etymology 1

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.

noun

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
2. (from the perspective of one on a body of water) Land, usually near a port.
   The seamen were serving on shore instead of in ships.
   The passengers signed up for shore tours.

verb

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To arrive at the shore
2. (obsolete, transitive) To put ashore.

Etymology 2

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.

noun

1. A prop or strut supporting some structure or weight above it.
   The shores stayed upright during the earthquake.

Etymology 3

on dry land which has been shored up (etymology 3) to keep it upright.]] 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”).

verb

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
   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
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.
   ... 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

Etymology 4

See shear.

verb

1. simple past of shear

Etymology 5

Originally, common-shore

noun

1. (obsolete except Scotland) A sewer.

Etymology 6

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

verb

1. To threaten or warn (someone).
2. To offer (someone).

Etymology 7

adv

1. Pronunciation spelling of sure.