undershorev.
1. transitive. To prop up; to support or strengthen with shores. Also in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [verb (transitive)] > prop
shore1340
undershore1393
prop1507
underpropa1535
crutch1641
rance1680
trig1711
spur1733
stut1808
spurn1865
scaffold1884
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. xix. 47 Ne were hit vnder-shored, certes hit sholde nat stande.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 511/1 Vndersettyn, or vnderschoryn, fulcio, suffulcio.
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 473/2 He sheweth himself as wise, as one that lest hys rotten house should fall, wold..pull vp ye groundsel to vndershore the sides with the same.
1583 H. Howard Defensatiue sig. Biijv A sillye proppe to vndershore the ruines of olde Adams walles.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 72 To vnder-shore the ruinous walls.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture II. 129 Undershore it with Levers made of strong beams.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 706 To undershore, to support or raise a thing by putting a spar or prop under it.
2. figurative. To support, strengthen, sustain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > support > [verb (transitive)]
lasteOE
i-hentc1225
uphold?c1225
upbeara1300
sustainc1300
understand13..
uplift1338
maintainc1350
supporta1393
underset1395
buttressc1400
supprise1447
bolster1508
stay1526
stay1526
undershore?a1534
underpropa1535
to hold up by the chin1546
back1548
suborn1548
suffult?c1550
upshore?1567
shoulder1577
upstay1600
underwrite1609
abone1622
crutch1641
float1823
backstop1956
?a1534 H. Medwall Nature i. sig. bi Yf ye wyll vndershore Hys croked old age.
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (xxxvii. 34) The faithful..being undershored by him should not suffer themselves too bee drawen hither and thither.
1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xviii. xl. 729 The cittizens of Babilon..know not which to beleeue. But we haue a diuine historie to vnder-shore vs.
1665 J. Bunyan Holy Citie Pref. p. iv Here is neither paint to adorn thy wrinkled face, nor Crutch to uphold or undershore thy shaking, tottering, staggering Kingdom of Rome.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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