Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Origin: shore 'piece of wood used as a support' (15-20 centuries), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German schore 'prop'

shore

2 verb
     
shore2

shore something ↔ up

phrasal verb
1 to support a wall or roof with large pieces of wood, metal etc to stop it from falling down:
The roof had been shored up with old timbers.
2 to help or support something that is likely to fail or is not working well:
attempts to shore up the struggling economy
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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