/ʃɹɛd/
OriginFrom Middle English shrede, shred (“fragment, piece, scrap; piece cut off from something; strip of material; ornamental strip hanging from the edge of a garment; thread; band or thread woven in a garment; element, streak; plant (?)”) [and other forms], from Late Old English sċrēad, sċrēade (“piece cut off from something; a paring; a shred”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudō (“a piece, shred; a crack; a cut”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”). Doublet of escrow.
- A fragment of something; a particle; a piece; also, a very small amount.
“There isn’t a shred of evidence to support his claims.”
“His gayeſt flooriſhes are but Gaſcoignes Weedes, or Tarletons trickes, or Greenes crankes, or Marlowes bravadoes; his jeſts, but the dregges of common ſcurrilitie, or the ſhreds of the Theater, or the”
“They ſaid they vvere an hungry, ſigh'd forth Prouerbes / That Hunger-broke ſtone vvals: that dogges muſt eate / That meate vvas made for mouths. That the gods ſent not / Corne for the Richmen onely: V”
- A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing.
“To leaue him that bare a Monarkes minde, / For a king of clovvts, of very ſhreads.”
“[…] Gold being grovvn ſomevvhat churliſh by recovering, is made more pliant by throvving in ſhreds of tanned Leather, or any Leather oiled.”
“Yet the Bible is like a fair Suit of Arras, of vvhich though a Shread may aſſure you of the fineneſs of the Colours, and Richneſs of the ſtuff, yet the Hangings never appear to their true Advantage, b”
- broadlyA thin strand or wisp, as of a cloud, mist, etc.
- A thin strip of fruit peel, a vegetable, etc., cut so that it curls.
“Three shreds of celery in a glass.”
- archaicA piece of gold or silver lace or thread.
“But, vvhen a tvvelvemonth paſs'd avvay, / Jack found his goddeſs made of clay; / Found half the charms that deck'd her face, / Aroſe from povvder, ſhreds, or lace; […]”
- rareA shard or sherd (“a piece of broken glass or pottery”).
“And when he neared Brandon he pulled up, sorted his pots, kept the whole ones, threw the shreds at the rabbits, and walked on into Brandon solemnly, leading the mare, and crying "Pots!"”
- obsoleteA tailor.
“Mer[curie]. Is it ſo, ſir, you impudent Poultroun? you ſlaue, you liſt, you ſhreds, you.— […] Ana[ides]. S'foot, vve muſt vſe our taylors thus.”
“As if thou ere vver't angry / But vvith thy Taylor, and yet that poore ſhred / Can bring more to the making vp of a man, / Then can be hop'd from thee: […]”
- transitiveTo cut or tear (something) into long, narrow pieces or strips.
“Take a little grated Bread, ſome Beef-ſuet, yolks of hard Eggs, three Anchovies, a bit of an Onion, Salt and Pepper, Tyme and VVinter-ſavory, tvvelve Oyſters, ſome Nutmeg grated; mix all theſe togethe”
- specifically, transitiveTo destroy (a document) by cutting or tearing into strips or small pieces that cannot easily be read, especially using a shredder.
“But then there was the awkward incident of the tearing of the writs. Nigel, to whom a lie was an impossibility, had to admit that with his own hands he had shredded those august documents.”
- specifically, transitiveTo cut (fruit peel, a vegetable, etc.) into thin strips that curl.
- transitiveTo separate (something) into small portions.
“Hunger was shred into atomies in every farthing porringer of husky chips of potato, fried with some reluctant drops of oil.”
- figuratively, slang, transitiveTo reduce (something) by a large percentage; to slash.
“Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, never wanted his customers to worry about shipping – about how much it cost, or about how long it would take – and he relentlessly shredded delivery times to make shippin”
- figuratively, slang, transitiveChiefly in rock and heavy metal: to play (a musical instrument (especially a guitar) or a piece of music) very fast and in a way that requires technical skill.
- figuratively, slang, transitiveTo cut through (snow, water, etc.) swiftly with one's snowboard, surfboard, etc.; (by extension) to move or ride along (a road, track, etc.) aggressively and rapidly.
- figuratively, slang, transitiveTo convincingly defeat (someone); to thrash, to trounce.
- archaic, transitiveTo cut or sever (something) into two parts.
“Then ſince (quoth ſhe) the terme of each mans life / For nought may leſſened nor enlarged bee, / Graunt this, that vvhen ye ſhred vvith fatall knife / His line, vvhich is the eldeſt of the three, / VV”
- obsolete, transitiveTo chop or cut (something) into pieces.
“Another vvafts his Blade about his head, / And ſhevvs them hovv their hãſtrings [hamstrings] he vvil ſhread.”
“Seeſt thou this, bold bright blade? / This Sword ſhall ſhred thee as ſmall unto the Grave, / As minc'd meat for a Pie.”
“Morality ſhreddeth ſinne as a garden knot; but Religion ſtubbeth it up by the roots.”
- obsolete, transitiveTo cut, lop, or strip (branches, etc.) off; also, to cut (a piece) from something.
“To call in queſtion the iuriſdiction of Archbiſhops, they affirme that no man is to take vpon him an office but hee that is called, as vvas Aaron: but they are not avvare, that the ſame poſition ſhred”
“You ly, you ly, Gabriell: I know what you are about to ſaye, but He ſhred you off three leaves at one blowe.”
“[A]ll vſurie in it ovvne nature is biting, becauſe it biteth or ſhreddeth avvay ſome of the borrovvers ſubſtance.”
- obsolete, transitiveTo prune or trim (a tree, a vineyard, etc.).
“As for Timber-trees, it is beſt not to head them at all, but to ſhred them up to one ſingle Bough, if the Soil be good that you plant them in; […]”
- intransitiveTo become separated into small portions.
“We couldn't see over the wall of smoke, and we couldn't see through it. But at last it began to shred away lazily, and by the end of another quarter-hour the land was clear and our curiosity was enabl”
“What is this that rises before me? Mist, mist, rolling mist with a square black tower above it. See it shreds out, it thins, it rises, and there lies a castle in a green plain, with the sea beneath it”
- intransitiveTo reduce body weight due to fat and water before a competition.
- intransitive, usuallyTo travel swiftly using a snowboard, surfboard, or vehicle.
- Synonym of shredded (“cut or torn into narrow strips or small pieces”).
“The ſtinging alſo of ſhred Horſ-hair, which in meriment is often ſtrew'd between the ſheets of a Bed, ſeems to proceed from the ſame cauſe.”
Formsshreds(plural) · shreds(present, singular, third-person) · shredding(participle, present) · shredded(past) · shredded(participle, past) · shred(participle, past) · shred(infinitive) · shred(first-person, present, singular) · shredded(first-person, past, singular) · shred(present, second-person, singular) · shreddest(archaic, present, second-person, singular) · shredded(past, second-person, singular) · shreddedst(archaic, past, second-person, singular) · shreddeth(archaic, present, singular, third-person) · shredded(past, singular, third-person) · shred(plural, present) · shredded(past, plural) · shred(present, subjunctive) · shredded(past, subjunctive) · shred(imperative, present)