shoulder 
collectively, the partsabout the scapula orblade- 
bone ; the scapular region, including both bony 
and soft parts; especially, in man, the lateral 
prominence of these parts, where the upper arm- 
bone is articulated, having as its bony basis the 
united ends of the collar-bone and the blade- 
bone, overlaid by the mass of the deltoid mus- 
cle. See also cut under *lioitldtr-blad<: 
In another Vie, toward the Southe, duellen folk of foulo 
Stature and of cursed kynde, that han no Hedes, and here 
Eyen ben in here Scholdres. MandevUle, Travels, p. 203. 
As did .^Eneas old Anchises bear, 
So bear I thee upon my manly shoulders. 
Sha.lt., 2 Hen. VI., v. 2. 63. 
I commend thy iudgement for cutting thy cote so lust 
to the bredth of thy shoulders. 
Chapman, Masque of the Middle Temple and Lincolns 
(Inne. 
Ammon's great son one shoulder had too high. 
Pope, Prol. to Satires, 1. 117. 
2. Figuratively, sustaining power ; strength to 
support burdens: as, to take the work or the 
blame on one's own shoulders. 
The government shall be upon his shoulder. Isa. Ix. 6. 
Her slanderous tongue, 
Which laid their guilt upon my guiltless shoulders. 
Shak., Rich. III., 1. 2. 98. 
3. The shoulder-joint. 4. The parts of an 
animal corresponding to the shoulder of man, 
including some other parts, and sometimes the 
whole fore quarter of an animal : thus, a shoul- 
der of mutton includes parts of the neck, chest, 
and foreleg. 
I'll assure your worship, 
A shoulder of mutton and a pottle of wine, sir. 
Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, 1. 1. 
5. In ornith., the carpal joint, or wrist-joint, of 
a bird's wing; the bend of the wing, which, 
when the wing is folded, fits against the shoulder 
roper, and appears in the place of this. The dis- 
nctlvely shaded or white parts which show in the cuts un- 
der Agelseina and sea-eagle are the shoulders in this sense. 
Robert of Lincoln [the bobolink) is gayly drest, . . . 
White are his shoulders and white his crest. 
Bryant, Robert of Lincoln. 
6. Some part projecting like a shoulder; spe- 
cifically, in anat., the tuberculum of a rib, sep- 
arated from the head by the neck, and usually 
articulating with the transverse process of a 
vertebra. See tuberculum, and cut under rib. 
7. A prominent or projecting part below the 
top ; a rounded projection : as, the shoulder of 
a hill ; especially, a projection on an object to 
oppose or limit motion or form an abutment; 
a horizontal or rectangular projection from the 
body of a thing. 
We already saw the French flag floating over the shoulder 
of the mountain. B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 42. 
Out of the shoulders of one of the towers springs a tall 
young flr-tree. Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 462. 
Then they resumed their upward toll, following the 
rough path that zigzagged up the mighty shoulders and 
slopes [of Ben Nevis]. W. Black, In Far Lochaber, vi. 
Specifically (a) The butting-ring on the axle of a vehi- 
cle, (b) The projection of a lamp-chimney just below the 
contraction or neck, (c) In carp., the finished end of a 
tenoned rail or mullion ; the part from which the tenon 
projects, and which fits close against the piece In which 
the mortise is cut. See cut under mortise, (d) In print- 
ing, the projection at the top of the shank of a type be- 
yond the face of the letter. See cut under type, (c) In 
archeru, the broadest part of a barbed arrow-head ; the 
width across the barbs, or from the shaft to the extremity 
of one of the barbs. (/) The upper part of the blade of a 
sword. (17) In a vase, jug, bottle, etc., the projection be- 
low the neck. 
The body of this vase is richly ornamented : . . . round 
the shoulder is a frieze of Scythians. 
C. T. Sewton, Art and Archieol., p. 381. 
(A) In a knife, the enlarged part between the tang and the 
blade, (i) In angling, a feather to the body of an artificial 
fly. 0') The back part of a sail. 
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail. 
Shak., Hamlet, 1. 3. 66. 
8. A projecting edge or ridge ; a bur. 
What constitutes a good plate in photo-engraving is deep 
sharp lines free from dirt or shoulders. 
Scribner's Mag., VIII., p. 90 of Adv'ts. 
9. In fort., the angle of a bastion included 
between the face and the flank. Also called 
shoulder-angle. See cut under bastion. 10. In 
the leather-trade, a name given to tanned or 
curried hides and kips. 1 1. In eiitom. : (a) One 
of the humeri or front upper corners of an in- 
sect's thorax : but in Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and 
Orthoptera the term generally denotes the upper 
front angles of the wing-covers. (6) A shoul- 
der-moth Head and shoulders. See head. Over 
the left shoulder. See lefti . Point of the shoulder, 
the acromial process of the scapula ; the acromion. For- 
merly also called shoulder-pilch. See cuts under shoulder 
and *AouWer-Wad.-Shoulder-of-mutton sail. See 
ami, and cut under sharpie. Shoulder to shoulder, 
with united action and mutual cooperation and support.' 
5592 
Exchanging that bird's-eye reasonableness which soars 
to avoid preference and loses all sense of quality, for the 
generous reasonableness of drawing shoulder to shoulder 
with men of like inheritance. 
George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, Ixiii. 
To give, show, or turn the cold shoulder. See cold. 
The Countess's dislike didna gang farther at first than 
just nhowing o' the canld shouther. Scott, Antiquary, xxxiii. 
"Does he ever come back?" . . . "Ay, he comes back,' 
said the landlord, "to his great friends now and again, 
and gives the cold shoulder to the man that made him." 
Dickens, Great Expectations, lii. 
To put or set one's shoulder to the wheel, to assist in 
bearing a burden or overcoming a difficulty ; exert one's 
self ; give elf ective help ; work personally. 
And I then set my shoulder to the wheel in good earnest. 
Sydney Smith, in Lady Holland, vii. 
With one shoulder', with one consent ; with united ef- 
fort. Compare shoulder to shoulder. 
That they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to 
serve him urith one shoulder. Zeph. iii. 9 (margin). 
shoulder (shol'der), i: [Early mod. E. also 
sholder; < ME. schuldren = D. schouderen = G. 
schultern = Sw. skyldra,skylbra = D&n. skuldre, 
shoulder; from the noun.] I. trans. 1. To push 
or thrust with the shoulder energetically or with 
violence. 
That new rotten sophistrie began to beard and sholder 
logicke in her owne long. 
Ascham, The Scholemaster, p. 136. 
Approching nigh unto him, cheeke by cheeke, 
He shouldered him from off the higher ground. 
Spenser, F. Q., V. ii. 49. 
But with his son, our sovereign Lord that is, 
Youthful Theodiick was prime man In grace. 
And quickly shouldered Ethelswick from Court. 
Broome, Queens Exchange, iii. 
2. To take upon the shoulder or shoulders : as, 
to shoulder a basket ; specifically (milit. ), to car- 
ry vertically or nearly so, as a musket in one 
hand and resting against the arm and the hollow 
of the shoulder, the exact position varying in 
different countries and at different times. 
The broken soldier . . . 
Shoulder'd his crutch, and show'd how fields were won. 
Goldsmith, Des. Vii., 1. 138. 
Playing, at the beat of drum, their martial pranks, 
Should'ring and standing as if struck to stone. 
Cowper, Table-Talk, 1. 137. 
At their head came Thor, 
Shouldering his hammer. M. Arnold, Balder Dead. 
Down in the cellars merry bloated things 
Shoulder'd the spigots, straddling on the butts 
While the wine ran. Tennyson, Guinevere. 
3. To form a shoulder or abutment on, by 
cutting or casting, as in a shaft or a beam. 
Shoulder arms, the order given to infantry to shoulder 
their muskets. 
U. in trans. To push forward, as with the 
shoulder foremost ; force one's way by or as if 
by using the shoulder, as through a crowd. 
All [serving-men] tramped, kicked, plunged, shouldered, 
and jostled, doing as little service with as much tumult 
as could well be imagined. Scott, Rob Roy, T. 
Then we Shoulder'd thro' the swarm. 
Tennyson, Audley Court. 
shoulder-angle (shol'der-ang'gl), n. In fort., 
same as shoulder, 9. 
Shoulder-belt (shol'der-belt), n. Milit., a belt 
wo:-n over the shoulder, for use or ornament. 
See bandoleer, baldric, guige, sword-belt. 
Up, and put on my new stuff -suit, with a shoulder-belt, 
according to the new fashion. Pepys, Diary, May 17, 1668. 
shoulder-blade (shol'der-blad), n. [< ME. 
achitlderblad = D. sehouderblad = MLG. scltid- 
derblat, G. schulterblatt = Dan. Sw. skulderbtad; 
us shoulder + blade."] The scapula (which see). 
The human shoulder-blade is somewhat peculiar in shape, 
and some of its parts are named in terms not applicable 
or seldom applied to scapulae in gen- 
eral. It is a compound bone, includ- 
ing a coracoid as a mere process, and 
develops from seven centers of ossi- 
fication, two of which are coracoid. 
It is commonly said to have two .-"/ 
.faces, three borders, and three an- 
gles. Of these, the ventral surface, 
which lies upon the ribs, is the ven- 
ter; the other surface is the dorsuin. 
This latter is unequally divided into 
two parts by the development of a 
high ridge, the spine, extended into 
a stout process, the acromion. The 
flat part above the spine is the supra- 
spinous fossa ; that below the spine, 
tne infraspinvus fossa; the venter 
is also called the subscapular fossa, border ; c , coracoUl ; . 
These three fossa indicate the primi- Bienoid cayitj, for artic 
tively prismatic and rod-like char- 
acter of the bone ; and they corre- 
spond respectively to the prescapu- 
lar, postscapular, and subscapular 
surfaces of a more general nomen- ..,. 
clature. The spine being actually tending from 
in the axis of the scapula, it follows 
that the long vertebral border (a^ to a.t in the figure) is the 
proximal end of the bone. The ijlenoCd fogga is at the other 
end of the bone, at its confluence with the coracoid. The 
Human Shoulder- 
blade or Scapula 
(right), dorsal surface. 
i, superior angle; 
tin, inferior angle: af, 
jillary 
ilation with hutnerus; 
is. infraspinous fossa ; 
n, neck and suprascap- 
ul;ir notch in superior 
border ; s, spine ; ss , 
supraspinous fossa ; v, 
vertebral border, ex- 
shouldering 
axillary border is one edge of the primitive prism ; the 
superior border is another ; and the third is along the free 
edge of the spine. The suprascapular notch in the superior 
border (converted into a foramen by a ligament) denotes 
the passage there of the vessels and nerve called by the 
same name. The peculiarities of the human scapula re- 
sult mainly from its extensive growth downward to the 
inferior angle (o 2 X with consequent lengthening of the 
axillary border and of the so-called vertebral ' border," 
and from great development of the spine and acromion. 
This bone, as usual in the higher vertebrates, has two ar- 
ticulationswith the clavicle and with the humerus ; ex- 
cepting the acromioclavicular articulation, it is attached to 
the trunk solely by muscles, of which sixteen (sometimes 
seventeen) arise from or are inserted into the bone. (Com- 
pare the shape of the rabbit's shoulder-blade, figured un- 
der metacromion, and of a bird's, under scapula.) See also 
cut under shoulder. 
I fear, sir, my shoulder-blade is out. 
SKak., W. T., iv. 3. 77. 
AB for you and me, my good Sir, are there any signs of 
wings sprouting from our shoulder-blades? 
Thackeray, Philip, v. 
shoulder-block '(shol'd^r-blok), n. Naut., a 
large single block having a projec- 
tion on the shell to prevent the rope 
that is rove through it from becoming 
jammed. 
shoulder-bone (shol'der-bon), . [< 
ME. gcholderbon, schuldirbon, schuldre- 
bone; < shoulder + bone 1 .'] 1. The hu- 
merus. 2. The shoulder-blade. 
My sonys hed hath reste none, 
but leneth on the schuldre bone. 
Holy Rood (E. E. T. S.X P. 200. 
To nee how the bear tore out his shoulder-bone. 
Shak., W. T., lii. S. 97. 
shoulder-brace (sbol'der-bras), 11. A surgical 
appliance for treating round shoulders. 
shoulder-brooch (shol'der-broch), n. A brooch 
such as is used in the costume of the Scottish 
Highlanders to secure the plaid on the shoulder. 
shoulder-callosity (shol'der-ka-los'i-ti), n. See 
prothoracic shoulder-lobes, under prothoracic. 
shoulder-cap (shol'der-kap), n. The piece of 
armor which covers the point of the shoulder, 
forming part either of the articulated epaulet 
or of the pauldron. 
shoulder-clappert (sh61'der-klap''er), n. One 
who claps another on the shoulder, as in famil- 
iarity or to arrest him-; in the latter sense, a 
bailiff. 
A back-friend, a shoulder-clapper, one that countermands 
The passages of alleys, creeks, and narrow lands. 
Shale., C. of E., iv. 2. 37. 
shoulder-cover (sh61'der-kuv"er), n. In en torn., 
same as shoulder-tippet. See patagium (c). 
shouldered (shol'derd), a. [< ME. yshuldred; < 
xhoulder + -erf 2 .] Having shoulders, of this or 
that character: as, \sio&A-shouldered, round- 
fthoiildered, Ted-shouldered. 
Take oxen yonge, . . . 
Yshuldred wyde is goode, and huge brest. 
Palladium, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.X p. 129. 
Kro&d-shouldered was he, grand to look upon. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 282. 
shoulder-girdle (shorder-gfer^dl), . The pec- 
toral or scapular arch or girdle. See pectoral 
girdle, under girdle, and cuts under epipleura, 
i nterelavicle, omosternum, sternum, scapula, scap- 
ulocoracoid, and shoulder. 
shoulder-guard (shol'der-gard). . 1. Same 
as epauliere. 2. Armor of the shoulder, espe- 
cially when added to the hauberk or gambeson 
as an additional defense. See cuts under epau- 
let, 2, and pauldron. 
shoulder-hitter (sh61'der-hit"er), n. One who 
hits from the shoulder: one who in boxing de- 
livers a blow with the full weight of his body; 
hence, a pugilist; a bully; a rough. [Colloq., 
U. S.j 
A band of shoulder-hitters and ballot-box stuffers. 
Sew York Tribune, Sept. 30, 1858. 
shouldering (shol'der-ing), n. [Verbal n. of 
xhoulder, 0.J 1. The act of pushing or crowd- 
ing with the shoulder or shoulders. 
Some thought to raise themselves to high degree 
By riches and unrighteous reward ; 
Some by close shouldring ; some by flatteree. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. vii. 47. 
Those shoulderings aside of the weak by the strong, 
which leave so many " in shallows and in miseries." 
a. Spencer, Pop. ScL Mo., XXV. 151. 
2. A shoulder; a sloping projection or bank. 
When there is not a kerb there should be a shoulderinff 
of sods and earth on each side to keep the road materials 
in place, and to form with the finished surface the water 
tables or side channels in which the surface drainage is 
collected. Encyc. Brit., XX. 683. 
3. In slating, a bed of haired lime placed be- 
neath the upper edge of the smaller and thicker 
sorts of slates, to raise them and aid in making 
the joints water-tight. 
