harbor

noun

1. (US, countable)Any place of shelter.

   “The neighborhood is a well-known harbor for petty thieves.”

2. (US, countable)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.”

   “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.”

3. (US, countable)A mixing box for materials.
4. (US, countable, obsolete)A house of the zodiac, or the mansion of a heavenly body.
5. (US, obsolete, uncountable)Shelter, refuge.

verb

1. (US, transitive)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 hosts: rodents.”

2. (US, intransitive)To take refuge or shelter in a protected expanse of water.

   “The fleet harbored in the south.”

3. (US, transitive)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, and the rabbit set.”

4. (US, transitive)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 destructive.”

   “Once I returned to the U.S., rather than harboring a grudge toward my captors, I would insist on being reassigned to Montesangre, reopening the embassy, and reestablishing diplomatic relations with the new regime.”

   “No one is saying that we should forget important parts of our own life stories. But that's not the same thing as harboring a grudge, is it?”