Meanings
present singular third person shores up · participle present shoring up · participle past shored up · past shored up
- figurativelyoftentransitiveTo reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure).
I shored up a geranium with earth after it had flopped over.
5 more examples
They hastened outside between storms to shore up the damaged fence.
He needed something bold and dramatic to shore up his failing candidacy.
This answer fell just at the right time and just in the right place, to save the poor unstable young man from changing his political complexion once more. He had been on the point of beginning to totter again, but this prop shored him up and kept him from floundering back into democracy and re-renouncing aristocracy.
1892, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXII, in The American Claimant, New York, N.Y.: Charles L[uther] Webster & Co., →OCLC, pages 233–234[Harry] Redknapp was determined to secure victory and sent on Younes Kaboul and star playmaker Luka Modric to shore things up.
2011 October 20, Jamie Lillywhite, “Tottenham 1 – 0 Rubin Kazan”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2021However, in 1998, the Argentinean-American physicist Juan Maldacena published a paper that shored up the idea that we live in a ‘holographic universe’ and set the world of physics alight.
2018, Marcus Chown, Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand […] , Michael O'Mara Books, →ISBNSynonyms: embolster, prop up, underfoot, undergird, underpin, underprop, underset
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure).
More synonyms by meaning
verbsupport by placing against something solid or rigid
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Low Germanschōre
- Middle Dutchschore
- Middle Englishshoren“to prop, to support”
- Englishshore up
From shore (“to provide with support”) + up. Shore is derived from Late Middle English shoren (“to prop, to support”) [and other forms], from shore (“a prop, a support”) [and other forms], + -en (suffix forming the infinitive form of verbs); while shore (noun) is 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.
More words from Middle English, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian подпи́рам, подпра́
- подпи́рам (podpíram)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- подпра́ (podprá)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Catalan apuntalar, reforçar
- apuntalarto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- reforçarto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- sostenirto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Chinese Mandarin 支撐 /支撑, 支持
- 支撐 /支撑 (zhīchēng)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- 支持 (zhīchí)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Dutch versterken, verstevigen
- versterkento reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- verstevigento reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Finnish pönkittää, tukea
- pönkittääto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- tukeato reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- vahvistaato reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
French accorer, étançonner
- accorerto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- étançonnerto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- renforcerto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
German abstützen, stützen
- abstützento reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- stützento reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- unterstützento reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- verstärkento reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Hungarian alátámaszt, megerősít
- alátámasztto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- megerősítto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- megtámasztto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- támasztto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- kitámasztto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- kidúcolto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- aládúcolto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- dúcolto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- megtámogatto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Italian puntellare, rincalzàre
- puntellareto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- rincalzàreto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- sostenereto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Māori whakatete
- whakateteto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Polish podpierać, podeprzeć
- podpieraćto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- podeprzećto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- podtrzymywaćto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- podtrzymaćto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- wspieraćto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- wesprzećto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Portuguese sustentar, reforçar
- sustentarto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- reforçarto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- escorarto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Russian подде́рживать, поддержа́ть
- подде́рживать (poddérživatʹ)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- поддержа́ть (podderžátʹ)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- упрочня́ть (upročnjátʹ)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- упро́чить (upróčitʹ)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- укрепля́ть (ukrepljátʹ)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- укрепи́ть (ukrepítʹ)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- подкрепля́ть (podkrepljátʹ)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- подкрепи́ть (podkrepítʹ)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Spanish apuntalar, reforzar
- apuntalarto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- reforzarto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- ademarto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- entibarto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Swedish stötta upp
- stötta uppto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Thai ค้ำ
- ค้ำ (kám)to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Turkish desteklemek, payanda vurmak
- desteklemekto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
- payanda vurmakto reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)
Cite this entry
shore up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shore%20up
“shore up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shore%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shore up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shore%20up.
Source: shore up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.