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shore up

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 29 November 2021

Etymology

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Fromshore(“to provide with support”) +up.Shore is derived from LateMiddle Englishshoren(“to prop, to support”) [and other forms],^[1]^[2] fromshore(“a prop, a support”) [and other forms],^[3] +-en(suffix forming theinfinitive form ofverbs);^[4] whileshore(noun) is fromMiddle Dutchschore,schare(“a prop, a stay”) (modernDutchschoor), andMiddle Low Germanschōre,schāre(“a prop, a stay; barrier; stockade”) (compareOld Norseskorða(“a prop, a stay”) (Norwegianskor,skorda)); further etymology unknown.^[5]

Pronunciation

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(Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key): /ˈʃɔːɹ‿ʌp/
(General American)IPA^(key): /ˈʃɔɹ‿ʌp/
Audio(General Australian): (file)

Verb

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shore up (third-person singular simple presentshores up,present participleshoring up,simple past and past participleshored up)

(transitive, often figuratively) Toreinforce orstrengthen (somethingat risk offailure).
Synonyms:(rare)embolster,prop up,underfoot,undergird,underpin,underprop,underset
Theyhastened outside between storms toshore up the damaged fence.
He needed something bold and dramatic toshore up his failingcandidacy.
Ishored up ageranium with earth after it had flopped over.
- 1892,Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXII, inThe American Claimant, New York, N.Y.:Charles L[uther] Webster & Co.,→OCLC,pages233–234:
  This answer fell just at the right time and just in the right place, to save the poor unstable young man from changing his political complexion once more. He had been on the point of beginning to totter again, but this propshored himup and kept him from floundering back into democracy and re-renouncing aristocracy.
- 2011 October 20, Jamie Lillywhite, “Tottenham 1 – 0Rubin Kazan”, inBBC Sport‎^[1], archived fromthe original on30 August 2021:
  [Harry] Redknapp was determined to secure victory and sent onYounes Kaboul and star playmakerLuka Modric toshore thingsup.
- 2018, Marcus Chown,Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand […] ‎^[2], Michael O'Mara Books,→ISBN:
  However, in 1998, the Argentinean-American physicist Juan Maldacena published a paper thatshored up the idea that we live in a ‘holographic universe’ and set the world of physics alight.
- 2022 October 19, “Suella Braverman forced to resign as UK home secretary”, inThe Guardian‎^[3]:
  [Liz Truss] had cleared her diary and called off a planned visit amid desperate attempts toshore up her premiership, before speaking to Braverman at a meeting in the House of Commons, sources said.