Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A sheltered part of a body of water deep enough to provide anchorage for ships.
  • noun A place of shelter; a refuge.
  • transitive verb To give shelter to.
  • transitive verb To provide a place, home, or habitat for.
  • transitive verb To entertain or nourish (a specified thought or feeling).

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An obsolete form of arbor, a garden, etc.
  • noun A place of shelter; a lodging; an inn.
  • noun Specifically The covert of the hart or hind.
  • noun Accommodation; lodging; shelter; refuge.
  • noun A port or haven for ships; a sheltered recess in the coast-line of a sea, gulf, bay, or lake, most frequently at the mouth of a river.
  • noun In glass-making, a chest 6 or 7 feet long which holds the mixed ingredients before they are put into the pot for fusion.
  • To provide a lodging or lodging-place for; lodge.
  • To give shelter to; protect; secure; secrete: as, to harbor a thief.
  • Hence To entertain; cherish; indulge: as, to harbor malice or revenge.
  • To trace home, as a deer to its covert; earth.
  • Synonyms Foster, etc. See cherish.
  • To lodge; dwell.
  • To receive shelter or protection; be entertained; be secreted.
  • To find a harbor; anchor in a harbor, as a ship.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To afford lodging to; to entertain as a guest; to shelter; to receive; to give a refuge to; to indulge or cherish (a thought or feeling, esp. an ill thought).
  • intransitive verb To lodge, or abide for a time; to take shelter, as in a harbor.
  • noun A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter.
  • noun obsolete Specif.: A lodging place; an inn.
  • noun (Astrol.), obsolete The mansion of a heavenly body.
  • noun A portion of a sea, a lake, or other large body of water, either landlocked or artificially protected so as to be a place of safety for vessels in stormy weather; a port or haven.
  • noun (Glass Works) A mixing box for materials.
  • noun (Naut.) fees paid for the use of a harbor.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the common seal.
  • noun a watch set when a vessel is in port; an anchor watch.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A sheltered expanse of water, adjacent to land, in which ships may dock or anchor, especially for loading and unloading.
  • noun Any place of shelter.
  • verb transitive To provide a harbor or safe place for.
  • verb intransitive To take refuge or shelter in a protected expanse of water.
  • verb transitive To hold or persistently entertain in one's thoughts or mind.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb secretly shelter (as of fugitives or criminals)
  • verb maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings)
  • noun a place of refuge and comfort and security
  • noun a sheltered port where ships can take on or discharge cargo
  • verb hold back a thought or feeling about
  • verb keep in one's possession; of animals

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English herberwe, probably from Old English herebeorg, lodging; see koro- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English herberwe, herberge, from Old English herebeorg ‘military quarters, hostelry’, from Proto-Germanic *harjabergō (cf. West Frisian herberch ‘inn’, Dutch herberg ‘id.’, German Herberge ‘id.’), compound of *harjaz ‘army’ and *bergō ‘refuge, shelter’, deverbative of *ƀerʒanan ‘to protect, shelter’ (cf. Old English beorgan). More at harry and bury.

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Examples

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  • "2. Specifically The covert of the hart or hind."

    --Century Dictionary

    March 25, 2011