shoring up
Propping something up
Shoring up means strengthening or supporting something that is weak, unstable, or at risk of collapse.
The image comes from construction, where shores are temporary supports bracing a structure: Workers shored up the crumbling foundation.
More often figurative: The Fed shored up the banking system, She's been shoring up support among undecided voters.
- buttressingSupporting from the side
- propSupport or stage item
- bracingRefreshingly keen or stimulating
- fortifyingMaking stronger or sturdier
- supportTo uphold or sustain
financial support · reinforcement · consolidating · propping up · holding together · scaffold · underpinning · sustain · averting · girding · post · bolstering · stabilizing · backstopping · damage control · mitigating · emergency measures · strengthening
- fortifyingfortifying, reinforcing, barricading, buttressing, bracing
- reinforcingreinforcing, strengthening, supporting, bolstering, propping
- restorationrestoration, repair, renovation, rebuilding, refurbishment
shoring updemolishing
Destroying a structure completely
dismantling · tearing down · undermining · destabilizing · weakening
shore, seashore, shoreline, ashore, offshore, upping, shored, inshore, onshore