Dictionary

shore up en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ʃɔˈɹ‿ʌp/ (Canada, General-American)
• /ʃɔːˈɹ‿ʌp/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• audio Queensland
• /ʃoːˈɹ‿ɐp/ (Australia, New-Zealand)

Etymology

From shore (“to provide with support”) + up. Shore is derived from Late Middle English shoren (“to prop, to support”) [and other forms], from shore (“a prop, a support”) [and other forms], + -en (suffix forming the infinitive form of verbs); while shore (noun) is from Middle Dutch schore, schare (“a prop, a stay”) (modern Dutch schoor), and Middle Low German schōre, schāre (“a prop, a stay; barrier; stockade”) (compare Old Norse skorða (“a prop, a stay”) (Norwegian skor, skorda)); further etymology unknown.

Meanings

1. (figuratively, often, transitive) To reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure).
   • They hastened outside between storms to shore up the damaged fence.
   • 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 prop shored him up and kept him from floundering back into democracy and re-renouncing aristocracy. 1892, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXII, in The American Claimant, New York, N.Y.: Charles L[uther] Webster & Co., →OCLC, pages 233–234:
   • However, in 1998, the Argentinean-American physicist Juan Maldacena published a paper that shored up the idea that we live in a ‘holographic universe’ and set the world of physics alight. 2018, Marcus Chown, Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand […] , Michael O'Mara Books, →ISBN:
   • He needed something bold and dramatic to shore up his failing candidacy.
   • President Trump rolled out a $12 billion bailout for struggling farmers on Monday as he looks to shore up the finances of some of his most loyal supporters whose financial fortunes have been hurt by his trade war. 2025 December 8, “Trump Promises Farmers $12 Billion to Blunt Fallout From His Trade War”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
   • I shored up a geranium with earth after it had flopped over.
   • [Liz Truss] had cleared her diary and called off a planned visit amid desperate attempts to shore up her premiership, before speaking to Braverman at a meeting in the House of Commons, sources said. 2022 October 19, “Suella Braverman forced to resign as UK home secretary”, in The Guardian:
   • [Harry] Redknapp was determined to secure victory and sent on Younes Kaboul and star playmaker Luka Modric to shore things up. 2011 October 20, Jamie Lillywhite, “Tottenham 1 – 0 Rubin Kazan”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2021:

Forms

Synonyms

underpin · underfoot · prop up · underset · undergird · underprop · embolster

Translations (68)

ru подкрепи́ть (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · sh подупрети (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · hu aládúcol (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · de abstützen (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · hu megtámogat (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · es reforzar (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · fr étançonner (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · cmn 支撐 /支撑 (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · sh подр̀жати (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · ru укрепи́ть (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · de unterstützen (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · sh podupreti (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · it rincalzàre (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · ca apuntalar (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · bg подпра́ (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · pt sustentar (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · gl apuntalar (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · pl wspierać (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · pt reforçar (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · ru упро́чить (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · ca reforçar (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · ota طیامق (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · tr desteklemek (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · hu megtámaszt (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · sh podùprijēti (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · es entibar (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · pl wesprzeć (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · hu dúcol (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · pl podeprzeć (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · pl podtrzymywać (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · sh поду̀прије̄ти (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · hu támaszt (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · pt escorar (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · es ademar (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · gl escorar (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · ru упрочня́ть (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · ru укрепля́ть (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · cmn 支持 (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · sh podr̀žati (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · ca sostenir (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · de verstärken (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · ru поддержа́ть (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · gl reforzar (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · it puntellare (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · nap ncarzà (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · it sostenere (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · pl podtrzymać (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · pl podpierać (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · hu alátámaszt (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · fi pönkittää (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · hu kitámaszt (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · th ค้ำ (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · fi vahvistaa (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · fr accorer (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · sv stötta upp (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · tr payanda vurmak (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · hu megerősít (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · nl verstevigen (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · hu kidúcol (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · fi tukea (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · nl versterken (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · es apuntalar (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · ru подкрепля́ть (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · ru подде́рживать (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · mi whakatete (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · fr renforcer (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · de stützen (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure)) · bg подпи́рам (to reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure))