harbor
Syllables: har·bor/ˈhɑːbə//ˈhɑɹbɚ/
harbor noun: any place of shelter.
Noun
harbor (countable and uncountable, plural harbors)
- Any place of shelter.
- The neighborhood is a well-known harbor for petty thieves.
- A sheltered expanse of water, adjacent to land, in which ships may anchor or dock, especially for loading and unloading.
- [T]here aboutes dwelt greate multitudes of people half wilde, hiding thẽſelues in caues of the grounde, of ſmall ſtature, and very fearefull, for as ſoone as they ſawe them they fled into their holes, and that there was a great riuer and very good harborough.1582, Nicolas [i.e., Nicolo] Zeno; Antonio Zeno, “The Discouerie of the Isles of Frisland, Iseland, Engroueland, Estotiland, Drogeo and Icaria, Made by M. Nicolas Zeno, Knight, and M. Antonio His...
- A harbor, even if it is a little harbor, is a good thing, since adventurers come into it as well as go out, and the life in it grows strong, because it takes something from the world and has something to give in return.1881 October, Sarah Orne Jewett, “River Driftwood”, in The Atlantic Monthly, volume 48, number 288, page 510, column 2
- A mixing box for materials.
- A house of the zodiac, or the mansion of a heavenly body.
- Shelter, refuge.
Verb
harbor (third-person singular simple present harbors, present participle harboring, simple past and past participle harbored)
- To provide a harbor or safe place for.
- The docks, which once harbored tall ships, now harbor only petty thieves.
- Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir...2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 193
- To take refuge or shelter in a protected expanse of water.
- The fleet harbored in the south.
- To drive (a hunted stag) to covert.
- This is the time that the horseman are flung out, not having the cry to lead them to the death. When quadruped animals of the venery or hunting kind are at rest, the stag is said to be harboured, the buck lodged, the fox kennelled, the badger earthed, the otter vented or watched, the hare formed...1819, John Mayer, The Sportsman's Directory, or Park and Gamekeeper's Companion
- To hold or persistently entertain in one's thoughts or mind.
- She harbors a conviction that her husband has a secret, criminal past.
- He said, “I am full of anger and bitterness at those people, but I will go to an AA meeting today and try to divest myself of these resentments, because if I hang on to resentments, I will drink again.” It occurred to me that this man was fortunate in being aware that harboring resentments is...2007, Abraham J. Twerski, Happiness and the Human Spirit: The Spirituality of Becoming the Best You Can be, Jewish Lights Publishing, →ISBN, page 133
Proper noun capitalized: Harbor
Harbor (countable and uncountable, plural Harbors)
- A surname, variant of Harbour.
- A census-designated place in Curry County, Oregon, United States.
harbor meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
harbor in Hindi
- for ships
- बंदरगाह bandargāh, पोर्ट porṭ
harbor in Tamil
- for ships
- துறைமுகம் tuṟaimukam
harbor in Urdu
- for ships
- بَنْدَرْگاہ bandargāh, پورْٹ porṭ
harbor in Bengali
- for ships
- বন্দর bondor
More languagesFewer languages
- harbor in Malayalam
- തുറമുഖം tuṟamukhaṁ
- harbor in Arabic
- مَرْفَأ marfaʔ, مَرْسَى marsā, مِينَاء mīnāʔ
- harbor in Malay
- pelabuhan
- harbor in Indonesian
- pelabuhan
- harbor in Thai
- ท่าเรือ tâa-rʉʉa
- harbor in Vietnamese
- hải cảng, cảng
- harbor in Myanmar
- ဆိပ်ကမ်း hcipkam:
Examples of harbor in a sentence
- A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 193:
- But that's not the same thing as harboring a grudge, is it?2019, Sophie Hannah, How to Hold a Grudge: From Resentment to Contentment—The Power of Grudges to Transform Your Life, Simon and Schuster...
Forms of harbor
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | harbors |
| alternative Commonwealth | harbour |
| alternative form (obsolete) | harborough |
| alternative form (obsolete) | herborough |
| alternative form (obsolete) | harborow |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | harbors |
| present participle | harboring |
| past participle | harbored |
| past | harbored |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Harbors |
Origin of harbor
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”). The final syllable was subsequently altered by analogy with the Anglo‐Norman and Old French suffix -or (as seen in loanwords like honour and labour). Doublet of albergo and auberge. See also borrow, bury, harbinger, harry and here.
From Middle English herberwen, herbere (later harboure), from Old English herebeorgian (“to take up one's quarters, lodge”), from the noun (see above).
English surname, variant of Harbour.
Words formed from harbor
- Amity Harbor
- Baldwin Harbor
- Bar Harbor
- Bass Harbor
- Boothbay Harbor
- Bucks Harbor
- Center Harbor
- Charlotte Harbor
- Cold Spring Harbor
- Egg Harbor
- Egg Harbor City
- Friday Harbor
- Gig Harbor
- Grays Harbor
- Green Harbor
- harborage
- harbourage
- harborfront
- harborful
- harbor gasket
- harborless
- Harbor Link
- harbor master
- harbormaster
- harbourmaster
- harbormistress
- harbor of refuge
- harborscape
- harbor seal
- harborside
- harbor town
- harborward
- harborwards
- Laurence Harbor
- Mare Harbor
- New Harbor
- New York Harbor
- Northeast Harbor
- Oak Harbor
- outharbor
- Palm Harbor
- safe harbor
- Safety Harbor
- Seal Harbor
- snug harbor
- Southwest Harbor
- Sullivan Harbor
- Tenants Harbor
- Townsend Harbor
- Two Harbors
- Winter Harbor
- York Harbor
- harborer
- unharbor
Phrases with harbor
Words that rhyme with harbor
- arbor
- barber
- Baine Harbour
- Blacks Harbour
- Clark's Harbour
- Conception Harbour
- Cook's Harbour
- Daniel's Harbour
- Fox Harbour
- Hant's Harbour
- Lark Harbour
- Mary's Harbour
8 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about harbor
- What does harbor mean?
- Harbor means any place of shelter.
- What is harbor in Hindi?
- Harbor in Hindi is बंदरगाह (bandargāh), पोर्ट (porṭ). See Harbor meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use harbor in a sentence?
- A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.
- What part of speech is harbor?
- Harbor can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce harbor?
- Harbor is pronounced /ˈhɑːbə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of harbor?
- The plural of harbor is harbors.
Words near harbor in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: harbor (page history and authors); Harbor (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-harbour.wav, en-us-harbor.ogg.
Cite this entry: “harbor.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/harbor. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.