Skip to main content
going ashore

going ashore

10 3.5
Leaving a boat or ship to step onto land
  • noun
translation icon : desembarco
  • Looks like we're going ashore after all.
  • a chance to go ashore

Examples

  • During the going ashore, the crew eagerly stepped onto the sandy beach, excited to stretch their legs.

  • After a long journey at sea, we finally enjoyed the going ashore to explore the charming coastal town.

  • That could be where they went ashore.

  • I told you it was a bad idea to go ashore.

  • We'll have to go ashore.

  • We will go ashore later, and perhaps teach you about beer.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • A couple of pals and I went ashore for a cup of tea.

  • If you like, you may go ashore when we dock, since there is certain to be a delay.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • My family and I went ashore for two days during a tour of the Baltic States.

    Blog text (1)
  • We'll be docking in a few moments, and I'll be going ashore to meet with the leader of the town.

    Fiction book (1992)

Synonyms

landfall
vsgoing ashore
42 4.5

The moment a ship, person, or storm reaches land after being at sea

is the act of leaving a boat and stepping onto land

Antonyms

96 1.0

The act of getting onto a plane, ship, or bus before it leaves

18 4.4

To get on a ship, plane, or other vehicle to begin a journey

How Formal

to disembark
21 5.1
to debark
1 7.2
going ashore
10 3.5
leave
  • Formal
148 4.2
to get off
170 2.5

Surface Forms

going ashore singular
going ashores plural

Morphology

going + ashore

The meaning is directly and transparently derivable from 'going' (to move/leave) combined with 'ashore' (toward/onto land from water), yielding the simple compositional sense of leaving a boat and stepping onto land. This motion verb + directional adverb pattern is cross-linguistically common and should be obvious to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Going ashore comes from the picture of someone stepping from a boat onto the beach or a dock. The parts going and ashore mean moving and 'on the shore', so the phrase describes leaving a ship and walking onto land, which is why it means 'the act of leaving a boat or ship and stepping onto land'.