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.
 
Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

ADVERTISING AND MARKETINGANIMALSBANKING
BIOLOGYBUSINESS BASICSCOMPUTERS
CLOTHESDAILY LIFEEDUCATION
FINANCEFOODGRAMMAR
HAIR AND BEAUTYHUMANLAW
MUSICNATURESPORT
STOCKS AND SHARESTECHNOLOGYTRADE