shrapnel 
fore reaching the object aimed at. After the 
explosion of the shell, the bullets and frag- 
ments fly onward in a shower Boxer shrapnel, 
a cylindrical iron shell, interiorly grooved, lined with pa- 
per filled with balls and rosin, carrying a bursting-charge 
in a tin chamber at the base, and having a wooden head 
overlaid witli sheet-iron. The charge is connected with 
a fuse in an iron tube. 
shreadt, ''. ' An obsolete form of xhri'il. 
shread-head(shred'hed),. [FoT*shred-head(D: 
see shred and head.] In arch., same as jerkin- 
hefifl. Imp. IHct. 
shred (shred), p. t. ; pret. and pp. shred (some- 
times shredded), ppr. shredding. [Early mod. E. 
tUsoshread; < ME.shreden,schreden (pret. *Ara/, 
xi-hri'd,xcliredile, ipp.schred, schrede), <AS. scred- 
ilinn (pret. "screddode) (in comp. be-screddian), 
orig. strong, *screddan (pret. *screod), cut up, 
shred (> serendung, shredding, and scredde, a 
shred), = OFries. skreda = MD. schrooden, 
schrooijeii, shred, clip, = MLG. schrodcn, schrd- 
den, scrodeii = OHG. scrotan, MHG. schroten. 
hew, cut, lop,G. schroten,eut, saw, gnaw, nibble, 
bruise, grind, = Dan. skraae, cut, lop; not re- 
corded in Goth. Hence shred, n., screed, and 
ult. shroud 1 , scroll, scrow. Cf. AS. scrudiii/in, 
OHG. scroton, investigate, L. scr atari, investi- 
gate : see scrutiny.] 1 . To cut or tear into small 
pieces ; also, to cut or tear pieces from. 
Wortes, or othere herbes times ofte, 
The whiche she shredde and seeth for hir living. 
Chaucer, Clerk's Tale, 1. 171. 
One . . . found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild 
gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot 
of pottage. 2 Ki. iv. 39. 
This sword shall shred thee as small unto the grave 
As minced meat for a pie. 
B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iv. 3. 
2. To tear into pieces, either small and irreg- 
ular, or long in proportion to their width ; tear 
into ragged bits, scraps, or strips: as, to shred 
old linen. 3. To prune; lop; trim, as a pole 
or a hedge. [Now only prov. Eng.] 
Then they lerned to shred their vynes, and they lerned 
to plant and graffe their olyues. 
A. Goldiny, tr. of Justin, fol. 178. 
The superfluous and wast sprigs of vines, being cut and 
shreaded off, are called sarmenta. 
Withals, Diet. (ed. 1608), p. 103. 
shred (shred), . [Also screed, an unassibilated 
form, known chiefly in a differentiated sense ; 
< ME. shrede, schrede, schread, < AS. scredde, 
a piece, strip, shred, = OFries. skred, sclired 
= MD. schroode = MLG. schrode, schrdde, a 
piece cut off, = OHG. scrot, a cut, MHG. schrot, 
a cut, stroke, wound, a piece cut or sawed off, 
G. schrot, apiece, shred, block, = Icel. skrjodhr, 
a shred, = Dan. skrot, rubbish ; from the (orig. 
strong) verb: see shred, v. Shred also appears 
in the forms screed and scrow, the latter from 
LG. through OF. : see screed, scrow, scroll.] 1. 
A bit, scrap, fragment, rag, or strip made by 
cutting or tearing up something: used specifi- 
cally of cloth or list for nailing up plants. 
Schrede, or clyppynge of clothe or other thynge, Scis- 
Bura, presegmen. Prompt. Pan., p. 448. 
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule, . . . 
A king of shreds and patches. 
Shale., Hamlet, iii. 4. 102. 
He munched a shred of toast, and was off by the omni- 
bus to chambers. Thackeray, Lovel the Widower, iii. 
2. Figuratively, a bit ; a particle ; also, some- 
thing that is like a scrap or fragment in being 
worn or valueless, or in having a forlorn ap- 
pearance. 
That poor shred [a tailor] 
Can bring more to the making up of a man 
Than can be hoped from thee ; thou art his creature. 
Massinger and Field, Fatal Dowry, iii. 1. 
There was not a shred of evidence against his client, and 
he appealed to the magistrates to discharge him at once. 
H. Smart, Struck Down, x. 
The cockroach has retained some shred* of reputation 
by eating mosquitoes. 
P. Robinson, tinder the Sun, p. 203. 
shred-COCk (shred'kok), n. The fieldfare, a 
thrush, Turdus pilaris. C. Stcainson. [Local, 
Eng.] 
shredding (shred'ing), n. [< ME. schredynge, 
gckrfdyng, < AS. screddung, verbal n. of "scred- 
iliin. scrcddiini, cut, shre'd: see shred, v.] 1. 
The act of tearing or cutting into shreds; also, 
the act of pruning or clipping. 
Schredynge, of trees and other lyke, sarmentacio, sarcu- 
lacio. Prompt. Pan., p. 448. 
2. That which is shred ; a ragged strip ; a frag- 
ment ; a scrap. 
Yet many things in it [our form of prayer] they say are 
amiss; ... it hath a number of short cuts or shreddings 
which may be better called wishes than prayers. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 27. 
5597 
3. />!. In fiir\>., short, light pieces of timber 
liM-il MS bearers below a roof, forming a straight 
line with the upper side of the rafters. Also 
culled J'urri iii/.i. 
shredding-knife (shred'ing-nif), n. A priming- 
knife. 
shreddy (shred'i), . [< nhrcd + -y 1 .] Con- 
sisting of shreds ; torn into shreds; ragged. 
Small bits of shreddy matter fall to the bottom of the 
vessel. J. R. Nichols, Fireside Science, p. 24. 
shred-pie (shred'pl), . Mince-pie: so called 
from the shredding or thin shaving of the in- 
gredients. [Eng.] 
Beef, mutton, and pork, shred pies of the best, 
Pig, veal, goose, and capon, and turkey well drest. 
Tusser, Christmas Husbandly Fare. 
In winter there was the luxury of a shredpie, which is a 
coarse north country edition of the pie abhorred by puri- 
tans. Southey, The Doctor, viii. (Davits.) 
shreek't, <' An obsolete spelling of shriek. 
shreek 2 (shrek), n. Same as shrike?. 
shreetalum, shreetaly (shre'ta-lum, -li), n. [E. 
Ind.] The talipot-palm, Corypha umbraculifera. 
shrew 1 (shro), n. and a. [Formerly also shrow; 
< ME. shrew, shrewe, schrewe, shrowe, also Unas- 
sibilated screwe, wicked, evil, as a noun a wick- 
ed person (the shrewe, the evil one, the devil), < 
AS. "scredwa, a wicked person, found only in 
another sense, scredwa, a shrew-mouse (see 
shrew 2 ); both supposed to mean lit. 'biter' 
(the bite of a shrew-mouse was formerly con- 
sidered venomous), < ^/ skru, cut, seen in shred 
and shroud 1 . For the later use of the noun as 
an adj., and the still later extension of the adj. 
with pp. suffix -erf 2 , -<f 2 , in shrewd, cf. wicked, 
which has a similar history in these respects. 
Cf. screw 2 , a doublet of shrew 1 .] I. n. If. A 
wicked or evil person; a malignant person. 
And alle that worche with wronge wenden hij shulle 
After her deth day and dwelle with that shrewe [Satan]. 
Piers Plowman (B), i. 127. 
For unto shrewes joye it is and ese 
To have her [their] felawes in peyne and disese. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Canon's Yeoman's Tale, 1. 193. 
The wickid aungil bad him be boold 
To calle bothe fadir <fe modir schreins. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. CO. 
2. A woman of a perverse, violent, or malig- 
nant temper; a scold; a termagant. 
Shrews . . . cannot otherwise ease their cursed hearts 
hut by their own tongues and their neighbours' ears. 
O. Harcey, Four Letters, iii. 
The man had got a shrew for his wife, and there could 
be no quiet in the house with her. Sir R. L'Estrange. 
3f. An evil thing ; a great danger. 
Than seide Dodinell the sauage that it were a shrewe to 
go, for in this foreste is noon rescettes, and cure horse 
sholde dyen for the faute and for hungir. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 568. 
4f. A planet of evil or malignant aspect or in- 
fluence. 
That he be nat retrograd, ne combust, ne joigned with 
no shrewe in the same signe. Chaucer, Astrolabe, ii. 5. 
Il.t Wicked; evil; ill-natured; unkind. 
Yet was he to me the moste shrewe, 
That feele I on my ribbes al by rewe. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 505. 
shrew 1 (shro), v. t. [< ME. schrewen, ssrewen, 
make evil, curse, < schrewe, an evil person: see 
shrew 1 , n. Cf. beshrew and shrewd.'] If. To 
make evil ; deprave. 
Schrewyn, pravo. Prompt. Pan., p. 449. 
2. To curse ; beshrew. 
O vile proude cherl, I shrewe his face. 
Chaucer, Summoner's Tale, 1. 526. 
Shrew me 
If I would lose it for a revenue 
Of any king's in Europe. 
SA<z*.,Cymbeline, ii. 3. 147. 
Shrew 2 (shro), n. [< ME. * shrewe, < AS. scredwa, 
the shrew-mouse: supposed to mean lit. 'biter': 
see shrew 1 . Cf. G. dial, schermaus, a mole, < 
scheren (= E. shear), cut, + mans = E. mouse.] 
A small insectivorous mammal of the genus 
Sorex or family Soricidse; a shrew-mouse. They 
are all small, greatly resembling mice in size, form, color, 
and general appearance (whence the name shrew-mouse), 
but belong to a different order (Insectfvora, not Rodentia). 
They may be distinguished at a glance by the long sharp 
snout. They are widely distributed, chiefly in the north- 
ern hemisphere, and the species are numerous, of several 
different genera, particularly Sorex, which contains more 
than any other. The little animals are very voracious, and 
devour great quantities of insects and worms ; but there 
is no foundation in fact for the vulgar notion that shrews 
are poisonous, or for any other of the popular supersti- 
tions respecting these harmless little creatures. The 
shrews have usually a musky odor, due to the secretion 
of some special subcutaneous glands with which they are 
provided, and in some of the larger kinds this scent is 
very strong. Among the shrews are the most diminutive 
of all mammals, with the head and body less than 2 inches 
shrewd 
long ; others are two or three times as large as this. The 
common shrew of Europe is flnrex vulyari*. The common- 
America 
Water-shrew (Neosortx 
falttstris). 
Common European Shrew (Sorex -VHlgarii). 
est in the United States is a large short-tailed species, 
Blarina bremcauda. The teeth of shrews are generally 
chestnut or reddish- 
black, but some 
shrews are white- 
toothed, as those of 
the genus Crocidu- 
ra; some are aquatic, 
as the oared or oar- 
footed shrew, Cros- 
sopus fodietis of Eu- 
rope, and Neosorex 
palwtris of North 
America. The name 
is extended, with a 
qualifying term, to 
related animals of a 
different family, as 
the shrew-moles and 
desmans. See shrew-mole, elephant-shrew, marsh-shrew, 
mole-shrew, musk shrew , squirrel-shrew, water-threw, and 
cuts under Blarina, desman, Petrodromus, Ptilocercus, 
Rhynchocyon, and Tupaia. 
Museragno [It.], akindeof mouse called a shrew, deadlie 
to other beasts if he bite them, and laming anybodieif he 
but touch them, of which that curse came, I beshrew thee. 
Florio, 1598. 
In Italy the hardy shrews are venomous in their biting. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, viii. 58. 
Broad-nosed shrew, the common Sorex platyrhinus of 
North America. Ciliated shrew, Crocidura suaveolens, 
a very diminutive shrew of southern Europe. House 
Shrew, Crocidura aranea, of parts of Europe, Asia, and 
Africa. Indian shrew, the musk-shrew. Oared or 
oar-footed shrews, aquatic shrews, of the genera Cros- 
gopus and Neosorex. See def. Rat- tailed shrew, the 
musk shrew. Short-tailed shrew, any species of the 
American genus Blarina, specifically B. brencauda. 
shrew-ash (shro'ash), . An ash-tree into a 
hole in the body of which a shrew-mouse has 
been plugged alive. Its twigs or branches, when ap- 
plied to the limbs of cattle, were formerly supposed to 
give them immediate relief from the pains they endured 
from a shrew-mouse having run over them. 
shrewd (shrod), a. [Early mod. E. also shrowd ; 
< ME. shrewed, sehreiced, schrewid, depraved, 
wicked, lit. 'accursed,' pp. of schrewen, curse, 
beshrew: see shrew 1 . Cf. cursed, curst, former- 
ly used in the sense of 'having a violent tem- 
per' ; cf . also wicked 1 . For the partial elevation 
of sense from ' cursed ' through ' mischievous, 
cunning,' to 'astute, sagacious,' cf. pretty, 
which has passed from ' tricky, cunning,' to 
'fine, beautiful.'] If. Evil; accursed; malig- 
nant; wicked. 
God shal take veniaunce on alle swiche preestes, 
Wei harder and grettere on suche shrewede faderes, 
Than euere he dude on Ophni and Fineee. 
Piers Plowman (C), i. 122. 
Helle repreued tho the deuel sathan, 
And horribli gan him dispice; 
" To me thou art a schrewide captayn, 
A combrid wretche in cowardise." 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 53. 
If a man be good and doth or seith a thing to good en- 
tente, the bakbiter wol turne al thilke goodnesse up-so- 
doun to his shrewed entente. Chaucer, Parson's Tale. 
There are shrewd books with dangerous Frontispices set 
to sale. Milton, Areopagitica, p. 24. 
2f. Having a curst temper; scolding; vixenish; 
shrewish. 
Thowe shalte bettyr chastise a shrodevyte with myrthe 
then with strokes or smytyng. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 30. 
As curst and shrewd 
As Socrates' Xantippe. 
Shak., T. of theS.,i. 2. 70. 
3t. Annoying; mischievous; vexatious; trou- 
blesome; malicious. 
He may do his ennemy a schcrewd turne and never far 
the warse in hys howsholde, tier the lesse men abowthe 
hym. Potion Letters, I. 297. 
An ant is a wise creature for itself, but it is a shrewd 
thing in an orchard or garden. 
Bacon, Wisdom for a Man's Self (ed. 1887). 
Byrlady, a shrewd business and n dangerous! 
Middleton, More Dissemblers besides Women, iii. 2. 
> State was much offended, and his father suffered a 
shrmt'tl check, and he had order to apprehend him for it. 
Bradford, Plymouth Plantation, p. 150. 
4. Sharp; keen; biting; harsh. 
To lift shrewd steel against our golden crown. 
Shak., Rich. II., iii. 2. 59. 
