shore

1 noun

1 (C, U) the land along the edge of a large area of water, such as an ocean or lake: We could see a boat about a mile from shore. | the shores of the Mediterranean | on shore (=away from a ship): We had a couple of hours on shore.

2 these shores/British shores/our shores etc especially literary a particular country that has a border on the sea: Millions of immigrants flocked to these shores in the 19th century.

—see also: ashore, offshore, onshore 2 verb shore sth up phrasal verb (T)

1 to support a wall 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

USAGE NOTE: SHORE WORD CHOICE: shore, bank, coast, seaside, beach The usual word for the land at the edge of a sea or lake is shore: At night he would stand on the shore and gaze out to sea. | There was a little cabin on the opposite shore. The edges of a river are its banks. When you are talking about a country, or a large area of a country, you call the land next to the sea the coast: the Atlantic coast of Spain | I could tell from his clothes that he was from the West Coast. In British English the seaside is the area by the sea considered as a place of enjoyment: a holiday at the seaside. In American English you are more likely to use beach: In summer, my mother used to take me to the beach. But you can also use beach in both British and American English for the flat land right at the edge of the sea, that is covered by water some of the time: They walked hand in hand along the beach.