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shrew

noun
/ʃɹuː/

Etymology

From Middle English *schrewe, from Old English sċrēawa (“shrew”), from Proto-Germanic *skrawwaz (“thin; meagre; frail”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut; shorten; skimp”). Cognates include Old High German scrawaz (“dwarf”), Norwegian skrugg (“dwarf”).

  1. derived from *(s)ker-✻ — “to cut; shorten; skimp”
  2. derived from *skrawwaz✻ — “thin; meagre; frail”
  3. inherited from sċrēawa — “shrew”
  4. inherited from *schrewe✻

Definitions

  1. Any of numerous small, mouselike, chiefly nocturnal, mammals of the family Soricidae.

  2. Certain other small mammals that resemble true shrews.

  3. An ill-tempered, nagging woman

    An ill-tempered, nagging woman: a scold.

    • The clerk had, I'm afraid, a shrew of a wife—shrill, vehement, and fluent. 'Rogue,' 'old miser,' 'old sneak,' and a great many worse names, she called him.
    • His wife was a shrew with warts on her face and she spoke to him sharply when others were present, but Simcha did not complain.
    • “Cease thy squalling, thou shrew!”
  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. To beshrew

      To beshrew; to curse.

      • I shrew myself.

The neighborhood

Derived

armored shrew, Bendire's shrew, common shrew, elephant shrew, Elliot's short-tailed shrew, erd shrew, Etruscan shrew, hardishrew, hero shrew, Himalayan shrew, house shrew, Jesus shrew, jumping shrew, marsh shrew, marsupial shrew, McCarthy's shrew, mole shrew, musk shrew, Nelson's small-eared shrew, northern tree shrew, ornate shrew, otter shrew, Pearson's long-clawed shrew, red-toothed shrew, Sado shrew, Saint Lawrence Island shrew, shrewd, shrewdom, shrew-faced squirrel, shrewish, shrewlike, shrewly, shrew mole, shrewmouse, shrew opossum, shrew possum, shrew-run, Sierra shrew, slender shrew, Tate's shrew rat · +7 more

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for shrew. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA