shore up
/ʃɔːˈɹ‿ʌp/
"shore-up" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shore up” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure).
Corpus desk
Index EN-shore-up · shore up · English
shore up · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | shore up |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ʃɔːˈɹ‿ʌp/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “shore up” in English
Rare enough to double-check
shore up is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ʃɔːˈɹ‿ʌp/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure).".
shore up has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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 (no… The correct English form is shore up, spelled S-H-O-R-E- -U-P.
Definition
- 1To reinforce or strengthen (something at risk of failure).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how shore up appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
They hastened outside between storms to shore up the damaged fence.
He needed something bold and dramatic to shore up his failing candidacy.
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.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.