Shore Is Land Cut Off by Water
The shore is where land meets water. English has several words for that boundary, each used differently.
The shore is the land along the edge of a sea, lake or river. Its root is the idea of cutting: Old English *scora* is related to *shear* and *share*, and the shore is where the land is cut off by the water. A separate verb *shore up* means to prop with timber, from an unrelated Dutch word for a support. English divides the boundary finely: *coast* is the geographic line, *shore* the land beside it, *beach* the loose material on it, and *seaside* the place people visit.
- Land beside water. *The lake shore.*
- To prop up. *Shore up the wall.*
- Coast — the geographic line. *The south coast.*
- Beach — the sand or shingle. *A sandy beach.*
- Old English — *scora*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | shore | The shore. |
| Plural | shores | Foreign shores. |
| Verb | shore | Shore it up. |
| Adjective | onshore | Onshore. |
| Adjective | offshore | Offshore. |
- They walked along the shore.Land.
- Timbers shored up the tunnel.Support.
- Coast, shore and beach differ.Vocabulary.
Words for the water's edge
- Coast — the line where land meets sea, seen on a map
- Shore — the strip of land beside the water
- Beach — the sand or shingle deposited there
- Bank — the shore of a river or lake
- Seaside — the coast as a place to visit
Old English *scora*, related to *shear*, from a root meaning to cut. The propping verb is from Middle Dutch *schore*, a support.
What is the difference between coast and shore?
Coast is the geographic line where land meets sea; shore is the strip of land beside the water.
Is shore up the same word?
No. That comes from a Middle Dutch word for a supporting timber, unrelated to the shoreline.