harbor 1 of 2

noun

ˈhär-bər How to pronounce harbor (audio)
Definition of harbornext
1
as in port
a part of a body of water protected and deep enough to be a place of safety for ships the tanker stayed in Boston harbor three days to undergo repairs

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2
as in refuge
something (as a building) that offers cover from the weather or protection from danger seeking a harbor from the drenching rain, we unfortunately chose a bank where a robbery was taking place

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harbor

2 of 2

verb

1
as in to have
to keep in one's mind or heart he had long harbored a grudge against his old employer, who had high-handedly fired him without cause

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to house
to provide with living quarters or shelter the woods in our suburb harbor deer, foxes, raccoons, and skunks

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to shelter
to be or provide a shelter for the little cabin is harbored from the wind by a thick growth of pines

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of harbor
Noun
The authority deployed a harbor unit, a scuba team and an aviation team to the scene, where 12 people had already been rescued from the water. — Lucia I Suarez Sang, CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026 Loss of safe harbor Safe harbor protection grants conditional immunity to social media companies, explained Udit Mendiratta, technology and disputes partner at Argus Partners. — Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 7 Aug. 2026
Verb
Root vegetables, like carrots, are grown entirely underground and may harbor extra dirt and debris. — Sarah Garone, HEALTH, 6 Aug. 2026 Like the initial story, Millie’s employers (Dunst and Kelly portray the spouses) are harboring a dark, sinister secret. — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 4 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for harbor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for harbor
  1. port
  2. refuge
  3. have
  4. house
  5. shelter
  6. anchorage
  7. sanctuary
  8. hold
Noun
  • Locations included the port city of Essaouira and Aït Benhaddou, known for its earthen clay fortresses, in Morocco, Sicily’s Favignana and Castello di Santa Caterina, and Nestor’s Cave in Greece for the Cyclops sequence.
    — Brittany Anas, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Ukraine reportedly halted attacks on a Russian port after a request from US Vice President JD Vance.
    — Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of port
Noun
  • And in Oahu, officials opened eight hurricane refuge areas as public facilities like the Honolulu Zoo shuttered.
    — Dalia Faheid, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2026
  • An era before automation and platform economics reads, for a generation with this profile, as a psychological refuge.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of refuge
Verb
  • This assortment features best sellers including the 24/7 Classic T-Shirt Bra, which has support, comfort adjustable straps and no-show double-layer back.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Aug. 2026
  • White Water's diminutive cocktail bar has awesome bottled cocktails served in proper glassware that make for the perfect sundowner to carry across the boardwalk to soak up golden hour over the Pacific.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of have
Verb
  • The remaining towers will house residential living, keep the main tower as a hotel, while welcoming businesses and office space.
    — Julia Avant, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Temporary federal detention facilities can house people with vastly different criminal histories and security classifications.
    — Walter Pavlo, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of house
Verb
  • That program, dedicated to assisting unhoused people who seek shelter on the CTA, helps fund outreach work on the CTA’s Red and Blue lines as well as shelter beds set aside specifically for people who shelter on the CTA.
    — Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Other than gasoline, prices for many categories — including food to shelter — are easing, which should keep the Federal Reserve on pause with interest rate hikes, Long said.
    — Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of shelter
Noun
  • As of Saturday, there were 67 vessels at anchorage at the Shanghai and Ningbo ports, along with 19 ships berthed at the hubs—amounting to more than 687,500 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in queue, compared to just above 96,500 TEUs at the ports.
    — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Beautiful anchorages aside, her sundeck is the place to be for the solar eclipse, with generous sun pads, a sheltered Jacuzzi and glass windbreak creating uninterrupted sightlines.
    — Dea Jusufi, Forbes.com, 25 July 2026
Definition of anchorage
Noun
  • Humane Indiana’s wildlife sanctuary in Valparaiso said in a Facebook post that staff could hear trees coming down on the property as storms rolled in Tuesday.
    — Maya Wilkins, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2026
  • This impending surge in lunar traffic makes time-sensitive missions like CosmoCube crucial to capturing the universe’s earliest faint signals before the quietest sanctuary in the solar system becomes noisy.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of sanctuary
Verb
  • In China, anyone who holds a position of authority is almost certainly a party member, and being kicked out of the party means the end of one’s political career.
    — Sylvie Zhuang, CNN Money, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Qatar’s armed forces captured and are holding three Iranian pilots who went missing in March when their jets were downed, the Missing Persons Committee of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of hold

Browse Nearby Words

harbingers
harbor
harborage
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Cite this Entry

“Harbor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/harbor. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on harbor

Nglish: Translation of harbor for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about harbor

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