shore¹ (shôr, shōr)
n.

1. The land along the edge of an ocean, sea, lake, or river; a coast.
2. Land; country. Often used in the plural: far from our native shores.
3. Land as opposed to water: a sailor with an assignment on shore.

[Middle English shore, from Old English scora.]

shore² (shôr, shōr)
tr.v., shored, shor·ing, shores.
To support by or as if by a prop: shored up the sagging floors; shored up the peace initiative.

n.
A beam or timber propped against a structure to provide support.

[Middle English shoren, from shore, prop, probably from Middle Low German schōre, barrier, or Middle Dutch scōre, prop.]

shore³ (shôr, shōr)
v. Archaic
A past tense of shear.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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