shred
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ʃɹɛd/
rhymes: -ɛd
Forms: form: shreds
Etymology: From 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.
Senses: examples: text: There isn’t a shred of evidence to support his claims.
text: 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 of-ſcouring of new pamflets: […]
ref: 1593, Gabriell Haruey [i.e., Gabriel Harvey], Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame, London: […] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC; republished as John Payne Collier, editor, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. […] (Miscellaneous Tracts. Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I; no. 8), [London]: [s.n.], [1870], →OCLC, page 66:
text: 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: VVith theſe ſhreds / They vented their Complainings, […]
ref: c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 2, column 2:
text: […] And like a ſon of Belial, vvithout the hire of Jeſabel, charges me of blaſpheming God and the King, as ordinarily he imagines me to drink Sack and ſvveare, meerely becauſe this vvas a ſhred in his common place-Book, […]
ref: 1642 April, John Milton, An Apology for Smectymnuus; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume I, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, page 178:
text: He munched a shred of toast, and was off by the omnibus to chambers.
ref: 1860 January–June, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “In which I Play the Spy”, in Lovel the Widower, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1861, →OCLC, page 88:
text: But signalman Bridges was never to answer driver Gimbert's desperate question. A deafening, massive blast blew the wagon to shreds, the 44 high-explosive bombs exploding like simultaneous hits from the aircraft they should have been dropped from. The station was instantly reduced to bits of debris, and the line to a huge crater.
ref: 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The Heroes of Soham …”, in Rail, number 948, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 43:
synonyms: word: ounce
word: ace
word: tinge
word: atom
word: trace element
word: aught
word: bissel
word: bit
word: crumb
word: glimpse
word: dab
word: damn
word: dash
word: diddly
word: glint
word: dot
word: spatter
word: drop
word: dusting
word: fleck
word: hint
word: flip
word: flyspeck
word: grain
word: halfpennyworth
word: inch
word: iota
word: jot
word: lick
word: mite
word: modicum
word: molecule
word: morceau
word: morsel
word: mote
word: ooch
word: ounce
word: particle
word: pennyworth
word: piece
word: pinch
word: scantling
word: semblance
word: scent
word: scintilla
word: scooch
word: scrap
word: scruple
word: shred
word: skerrick
word: skoosh
word: skosh
word: sliver
word: smattering
word: smidge
word: smidgen
word: smidget
word: smidgy
word: smitch
word: smithereen
word: soupçon
word: spark
word: speck
word: speckle
word: spot
word: sprinkle
word: sprinkling
word: strain
word: tad
word: tidbit
word: tidge
word: tittle
word: toddick
word: touch
word: trace
word: trifle
word: tuppence worth
word: vestige
word: whiff
word: whit
glosses: A fragment of something; a particle; a piece; also, a very small amount.
examples: text: To leaue him that bare a Monarkes minde, / For a king of clovvts, of very ſhreads.
ref: c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and Iohn Trundell, published 1603, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
text: […] Gold being grovvn ſomevvhat churliſh by recovering, is made more pliant by throvving in ſhreds of tanned Leather, or any Leather oiled.
ref: a. 1627 (date written), Francis Bacon, “[Baconiana Physiologica. […].] Articles of Questions Touching Minerals; […]. [What be the Compound Metals that are Common and Known? and What are the Proportions of Their Mixtures?]”, in [Thomas Tenison], editor, Baconiana. Or Certain Genuine Remains of Sr. Francis Bacon, […], London: […] J. D. for Richard Chiswell, […], published 1679, →OCLC, page 109:
text: 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, but vvhen they are diſplay'd to their full Dimenſions, and ſeen together.
ref: 1663, Robert Boyle, Some Considerations Touching the Style of the H[oly] Scriptures. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, page 72:
text: To-day they were to trim the grape-vine, so Kit mounted half-way up a short ladder, and began to snip and hammer away, while the old gentleman, with a great interest in his proceedings, handed up the nails and shreds of cloth as he wanted them.
ref: 1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Fortieth”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC, page 14:
text: A wandering minstrel I— / A thing of shreds and patches, / Of ballads, songs and snatches, / And dreamy lullaby!
ref: 1885, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert; Arthur Sullivan, composer, “Song—Nanki-Poo”, in […] The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, London: Chappel & Co., […], →OCLC, Act I, page 4:
text: They have hung a shred of carpet out of an upstairs window— […]
ref: 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “How Captain Dobbin Bought a Piano”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 144:
glosses: A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing.
glosses: A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing.
A thin strand or wisp, as of a cloud, mist, etc.
examples: text: Three shreds of celery in a glass.
ref: 1840, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “A Shabby Genteel Dinner, and Other Incidents of a Like Nature”, in “A Shabby Genteel Story”, in Miscellanies: Prose and Verse, volume IV, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC, page 254:
topics: cooking
food
lifestyle
glosses: A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing.
A thin strip of fruit peel, a vegetable, etc., cut so that it curls.
examples: text: 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; […]
ref: 1765, [Oliver] Goldsmith, “Essay XXVI. The Double Transformation: A Tale.”, in Essays. […], London: […] W[illiam] Griffin […], →OCLC, pages 230–231:
glosses: A piece of gold or silver lace or thread.
examples: text: 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!"
ref: 1866, C[harles] Kingsley, “How Hereward Played the Potter; and How He Cheated the King”, in Hereward the Wake, “Last of the English.” […], volume II, London; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 169:
glosses: A shard or sherd (“a piece of broken glass or pottery”).
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1600 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act V, scene iv, page 246:
text: 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: […]
ref: c. 1619 (date written), P[hilip] M[assinger], N[athan] F[ield], The Fatall Dowry: A Tragedy. […], London: […] Iohn Norton, for Francis Constable, […], published 1632, →OCLC, Act III:
glosses: A tailor.
Derived terms: word: shreddies
word: shreddy
word: shredless
word: shredlet
word: shred pie
Related terms: screed