- an area of water on the coast, protected from the open sea by strong walls, where ships can shelter
- Several boats lay at anchor in the harbour.
- to enter/leave harbour
- the harbour front/mouth/wall
- (figurative) She felt as though she'd reached a safe harbour after sailing in a vast, unfriendly sea.
Extra ExamplesTopics Transport by waterb2- The fishing fleet is in harbour.
- The town has a small natural harbour.
- They entered the harbour with flags flying.
- We sailed out of the harbour at daybreak.
- We landed in a natural sheltered harbour.
- the old harbour town of Watchet
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- deep
- deep-water
- good
- …
- have
- come into
- enter
- …
- defences/defenses
- wall
- town
- …
- in (a/the) harbour
- into (a/the) harbour
- out of a/the harbour
- …
- the entrance to a harbour
- the mouth of a harbour
Word Originlate Old English herebeorg ‘shelter, refuge’, herebeorgian ‘occupy shelter’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch herberge and German Herberge, also to French auberge ‘inn’; see also harbinger.
Check pronunciation:
harbour