shore up
verbEtymology
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.
Definitions
To reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure).
- They hastened outside between storms to shore up the damaged fence.
- He needed something bold and dramatic to shore up his failing candidacy.
- I shored up a geranium with earth after it had flopped over.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for shore up. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA