shrew
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: shro͞o
enpr: shrū
ipa: /ʃɹuː/
ipa: /ʃɹɪu̯/
rhymes: -uː
Forms: form: shrews
form: shrow
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”).
Senses: glosses: Any of numerous small, mouselike, chiefly nocturnal, mammals of the family Soricidae.
glosses: Certain other small mammals that resemble true shrews.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
text: 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.
ref: 1959, Mordecai Richler, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz:
glosses: An ill-tempered, nagging woman: a scold.
Synonyms: sense: mouselike mammal
word: ranny
sense: mouselike mammal
word: soricid
word: battle axe
word: bitch
word: brim
word: brimstone
word: cat
word: crow
word: dragon
word: faggot
word: fishwife
word: harpy
word: harridan
word: hellcat
word: jade
word: nag
word: nudnik
word: scold
word: she-devil
word: shrew
word: termagant
word: virago
word: vixen
word: witch
Hypernyms: word: complainer
word: jerk
word: woman
Hyponyms: sense: mouselike mammal
word: common shrew
word: grimalkin
word: madam
Derived terms: sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
taxonomic: Scutisorex somereni
word: armored shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: Bendire's shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
english: Sorex araneus in family Soricidae
translation: Sorex araneus in family Soricidae
word: common shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
english: order Macroscelidea
translation: order Macroscelidea
word: elephant shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: Elliot's short-tailed shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
taxonomic: Sorex araneus
word: erd shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
english: Suncus etruscus in family Soricidae
translation: Suncus etruscus in family Soricidae
word: Etruscan shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
english: Sorex araneus in family Soricidae
translation: Sorex araneus in family Soricidae
word: hardishrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
taxonomic: Scutisorex somereni
word: hero shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: Himalayan shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: house shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: Jesus shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
english: order Macroscelidea
translation: order Macroscelidea
word: jumping shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: marsh shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: marsupial shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: McCarthy's shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: mole shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: musk shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
english: family Soricidae
translation: family Soricidae
taxonomic: Cryptotis nelsoni
word: Nelson's small-eared shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: northern tree shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: ornate shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
english: subfamily Potamogalinae in family Tenrecidae in order Afrosoricida
translation: subfamily Potamogalinae in family Tenrecidae in order Afrosoricida
word: otter shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: Pearson's long-clawed shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: red-toothed shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: Sado shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: Saint Lawrence Island shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: shrewd
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: shrew-faced squirrel
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: shrewish
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: shrew mole
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
english: Sorex araneus in family Soricidae
translation: Sorex araneus in family Soricidae
word: shrewmouse
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: shrew opossum
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
english: order Paucituberculata
translation: order Paucituberculata
word: shrew possum
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: shrew-run
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: Sierra shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: slender shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: Tate's shrew rat
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: tree shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: tree-shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
english: families Tupaiidae and Ptilocercidae in order Scandentia
translation: families Tupaiidae and Ptilocercidae in order Scandentia
word: treeshrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
english: Soricidae
translation: Soricidae
word: true shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: tule shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
word: water shrew
sense: terms derived from shrew (noun)
alt: genus †Nesophontes in family Solenodontidae
word: West Indies shrew
Related terms: word: banshee
word: blowsabella
word: fury
word: hothead
word: hotspur
word: hoyden
word: spitfire