shoulder
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈʃəʊldə/
enpr: shōlʹdər
ipa: /ˈʃoʊldɚ/
rhymes: -əʊldə(ɹ)
Forms: form: shoulders
form: shouder
Etymology: From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sculdra, sculdor (“shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuldru (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cognate with Old Frisian skuldere (“shoulder”) (West Frisian skouder (“shoulder”)), Middle Low German scholder (“shoulder”), Low German Schuller, Schulder (“shoulder”), Dutch schouder (“shoulder”), German Schulter (“shoulder”).
Senses: examples: text: The parrot was sitting on Steve's shoulder.
text: But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window[…].
ref: 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The First Gun”, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 4:
text: With just the turn of a shoulder she indicated the water front, where, at the end of the dock on which they stood, lay the good ship, Mount Vernon, river packet, the black smoke already pouring from her stacks. In turn he smiled and also shrugged a shoulder.
ref: 1910, Emerson Hough, “A Lady in Company”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
glosses: The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and forearm socket.
The part of the human torso forming a relatively horizontal surface running away from the neck.
topics: anatomy
medicine
sciences
glosses: The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and forearm socket.
The joint between the arm and the torso, sometimes including the surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
examples: text: In the firſt Courſe there was a Shoulder of Mutton, cut into an Æquilateral Triangle, a Piece of Beef into a Rhomboides, and a Pudding into a Cycloid.
ref: 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Humours and Dispositions of the Laputians Described. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part III (A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdribb, Luggnagg, and Japan), page 20:
glosses: The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and forearm socket.
A cut of meat comprising the upper joint of the foreleg and the surrounding muscle.
glosses: The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and forearm socket.
The portion of a garment where the shoulder is clothed.
glosses: Anything forming a shape resembling a human shoulder.
examples: text: He stopped the car on the shoulder of the highway to change the flat tire.
text: The shoulders are graded and the verges cleared well back to lessen the chances of hitting stray stock.
ref: 2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 129:
topics: geography
natural-sciences
topography
glosses: A shelf between two levels.
A usually unsealed strip of land bordering a road, where vehicles can drive or park in an emergency.
examples: text: […]the north-western shoulder of the mountain[…]
ref: 1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter III, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 57:
topics: geography
natural-sciences
topography
glosses: A shelf between two levels.
The portion of a hill or mountain just below the peak.
examples: text: I certainly was not prepared for the cosy nestling valleys that snuggled against the shoulders of the hills; a land where the graystone cottages and farmsteads still prevailed, but where they had taken on something of the softness of their kind in Gloucester and the Cotswolds, and seemed almost like growths of the soil; […].
ref: 1949 January and February, F. G. Roe, “I Saw Three Englands–1”, in Railway Magazine, page 12:
topics: geography
natural-sciences
topography
glosses: A shelf between two levels.
A lateral protrusion of a hill or mountain.
topics: geography
natural-sciences
topography
glosses: A shelf between two levels.
The angle of a bastion included between the face and flank.
topics: geography
natural-sciences
topography
glosses: A shelf between two levels.
An abrupt projection which forms an abutment on an object, or limits motion, etc., such as the projection around a tenon at the end of a piece of timber.
topics: media
printing
publishing
glosses: The flat portion of type that is below the bevelled portion that joins up with the face.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: The portion between the neck and the body.
The rounded portion of a stringed instrument where the neck joins the body.
raw_tags: of an object
glosses: The portion between the neck and the body.
The rounded portion of a bottle where the neck meets the body.
raw_tags: of an object
topics: engineering
firearms
government
military
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
politics
tools
war
weaponry
glosses: The portion between the neck and the body.
The angled section between the neck and the main body of a cartridge.
raw_tags: of an object
examples: text: passage[…]in thy ſhoulder do I builde my Seate;
ref: c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vi], page 158, column 1:
glosses: That which supports or sustains; support.
glosses: The part of a key between the cuts and the bow.
examples: text: You see you're going to make it into the safety of the shoulder. It feels like the happiest day of your life.
ref: 1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
surfing
synonyms: hook
glosses: The part of a wave that has not yet broken.
examples: text: For a round-trip journey starting from the UK during the shoulder period (1 April-30 June) […]
ref: 1976, Trade and Industry, volume 25, page 270:
text: the determination of noise-induced disturbances during the shoulder hours and their consequences for the consecutive sleep period
ref: 2003, Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on Noise as a Public Health Problem (Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 29 June-3 July 2003), page 184:
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
coordinate_terms: noon balloon
glosses: A season or a time of day when there is relatively little air traffic.
Hyponyms: sense: a verge to the side of a road
word: hard shoulder
sense: a verge to the side of a road
word: soft shoulder
Derived terms: chip on one's shoulder
cold-shoulder
cold shoulder
cold shoulder sleeve
double shoulder lock
frozen shoulder
give someone the cold shoulder
hard shoulder
heave-shoulder
hip and shoulder
look over one's shoulder
Milwaukee shoulder syndrome
off-the-shoulder
over the left shoulder
over-the-shoulder boulder holder
pull away the shoulder
put one's shoulder into
put one's shoulder to the wheel
rub shoulders
set one's shoulder to the wheel
shoulder angel
shoulder arms
shoulder bag
shoulder-barge
shoulder belt
shoulder blade
shoulder-blade
shoulder block
shoulderboard
shoulder bolt
shoulder bone
shoulder button
shoulder check
shoulder devil
shoulder display
shoulder drop
shoulder girdle
shoulder impingement syndrome
shoulder joint
shoulder-knot
shoulder knot
shoulder-length
shoulder mark
shoulder-of-mutton sail
shoulder pad
shoulder piece
shoulder pole
shoulder-pole
shoulder season
shoulder-strap
shoulder surf
shoulder surfer
shoulder surfing
shoulder to cry on
shoulder-to-shoulder
shoulder to shoulder
straight-from-the-shoulder
straight from the shoulder
with one shoulder
you can't put an old head on young shoulders