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Synonyms

shore up

Idioms  

  1. 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.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The group said it would strive to shore up its balance sheet by issuing bonds and pausing shareholder payouts.

From The Wall Street Journal

"We did not know that he was the kingpin," Hun Manet told AFP in Brussels, where he stopped as part of an international trip to shore up diplomatic support over a border conflict with Thailand.

From Barron's

A pair of new books, though, suggest that the overall shift was only so modest, ultimately shoring up not just the old-school studio system but the social norms the interlopers were supposed to be upending.

From Los Angeles Times

The firm hoped the sale would shore up wobbling investor confidence.

From The Wall Street Journal

The decline came as the Lunar New Year holiday kicked off, which means those buyers are not around to shore up those assets.

From MarketWatch

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.