Definition of HARBOR

harbor

Plural: harbors

Noun

  • a sheltered port where ships can take on or discharge cargo
  • a place of refuge and comfort and security
  • Any place of shelter.
  • A sheltered expanse of water, adjacent to land, in which ships may anchor or dock, especially for loading and unloading.
  • A mixing box for materials.
  • A house of the zodiac, or the mansion of a heavenly body.
  • Shelter, refuge.

Verb

Verb Forms: harbored, harboring, harbors

  • To provide shelter or refuge; to keep a feeling or thought.
  • maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings)
    • "harbor a resentment"
  • secretly shelter (as of fugitives or criminals)
  • keep in one's possession; of animals
  • hold back a thought or feeling about
    • "She is harboring a grudge against him"
  • To provide a harbor or safe place for.
  • To take refuge or shelter in a protected expanse of water.
  • To drive (a hunted stag) to covert.
  • To hold or persistently entertain in one's thoughts or mind.

Examples

  • She harbors a conviction that her husband has a secret, criminal past.
  • Some Scrabble players harbor secret strategies, only revealing them in critical moments.
  • The docks, which once harbored tall ships, now harbor only petty thieves.
  • The fleet harbored in the south.
  • The neighborhood is a well-known harbor for petty thieves.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English herberwe, herber, from Old English herebeorg (“shelter, lodgings, quarters”), from Proto-West Germanic *harjabergu (“army shelter, refuge”), from *harjaz (“army”) + *bergō (“protection”), equivalent to Old English here (“army, host”) + beorg (“defense, protection, refuge”). Doublet of albergo and auberge. See also borrow, bury, harbinger, harry and here.

Scrabble Score: 11

harbor: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
harbor: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
harbor: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 11

harbor: valid Words With Friends Word