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shore up

 - 3 dictionary results

shore

2  [shawr, shohr] noun, verb, shored, shor⋅ing.
Use shore up in a Sentence
–noun
1. a supporting post or beam with auxiliary members, esp. one placed obliquely against the side of a building, a ship in drydock, or the like; prop; strut.
–verb (used with object)
2. to support by or as if by a shore or shores; prop (usually fol. by up): to shore up a roof; government subsidies to shore up falling corn prices.
Origin:
1300–50; (n.) ME; c. MLG, MD schore prop; (v.) shoren, deriv. of the n.

Synonyms:
1. brace, buttress, stay.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

shore  (v.)
1340, "to prop, support with a prop," of obscure etymology, though widespread in W.Gmc.; cf. M.Du. schooren "to prop up, support," O.N. skorða (n.) "a piece of timber set up as a support."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

shore up

Support, prop, as in The new law was designed to shore up banks in danger of failure. This expression derives from the noun shore, meaning "prop," a beam or timber propped against a structure to provide support. The verb shore dates from 1340 and was first recorded in a figurative context in 1581.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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