Adjacent Words

Shrew definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SHREW, n.
1. A peevish, brawling, turbulent, vexatious woman. It appears to have originally been applied to males as well as females; but is now restricted to the latter.
The man had got a shrew for his wife, and there could be no quiet in the house with her. L'Estrange.
2. A shrew-mouse.
SHREW, v.t. To beshrew; to curse. Obs.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a scolding nagging bad-tempered woman [syn: shrew, termagant]
2: small mouselike mammal with a long snout; related to moles [syn: shrew, shrewmouse]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English shrewe evil or scolding person, from Old English scr?awa shrew (animal) Date: before 12th century 1. any of a family (Soricidae) of small chiefly nocturnal insectivores related to the moles and distinguished by a long pointed snout, very small eyes, and short velvety fur 2. an ill-tempered scolding woman • shrewlike adjective II. transitive verb Date: 14th century obsolete curse

Britannica Concise

Any of 290 small insectivore species (family Soricidae) of the Northern Hemisphere and the Andes. They resemble moles, and have tiny eyes and ears, a hanging snout, and long, hook-tipped incisors. Species are 1.5-11 in. (3.5-27 cm) long, excluding the 1-4-in. (2.5-10-cm) tail and weigh as little as 0.07 oz (2 g). The smallest shrews are the smallest of all mammals. Most species live in ground litter, but some live in burrows or trees and a few are semiaquatic. Because they are so small, shrews have the highest metabolic rates of any mammal (with pulses as high as 800 beats per minute) and can survive only a few hours without food. Their normal prey is invertebrates, though some will eat small mammals. Some species have toxic saliva (painful to humans). Raptors and snakes eat shrews, but mammals avoid them. Some authorities classify tree shrews (family Tupaiidae) with the primates.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 any small usu. insect-eating mouselike mammal of the family Soricidae, with a long pointed snout. 2 a bad-tempered or scolding woman. Derivatives: shrewish adj. (in sense 2). shrewishly adv. shrewishness n. Etymology: OE screawa, scræwa shrew-mouse: cf. OHG scrawaz dwarf, MHG schrawaz etc. devil

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shrew Shrew, a. [OE. shrewe, schrewe. Cf. Shrewd.] Wicked; malicious. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shrew Shrew, n. [See Shrew, a.] 1. Originally, a brawling, turbulent, vexatious person of either sex, but now restricted in use to females; a brawler; a scold. A man . . . grudgeth that shrews [i. e., bad men] have prosperity, or else that good men have adversity. --Chaucer. A man had got a shrew to his wife, and there could be no quiet in the house for her. --L'Estrange. 2. [AS. scre['a]wa; -- so called because supposed to be venomous. ] (Zo["o]l.) Any small insectivore of the genus Sorex and several allied genera of the family Sorecid[ae]. In form and color they resemble mice, but they have a longer and more pointed nose. Some of them are the smallest of all mammals. Note: The common European species are the house shrew (Crocidura araneus), and the erd shrew (Sorex vulgaris) (see under Erd.). In the United States several species of Sorex and Blarina are common, as the broadnosed shrew (S. platyrhinus), Cooper's shrew (S. Cooperi), and the short-tailed, or mole, shrew (Blarina brevicauda). Th American water, or marsh, shrew (Neosorex palustris), with fringed feet, is less common. The common European water shrews are Crossopus fodiens, and the oared shrew (see under Oared). Earth shrew, any shrewlike burrowing animal of the family Centetid[ae], as the tendrac. Elephant shrew, Jumping shrew, Mole shrew. See under Elephant, Jumping, etc. Musk shrew. See Desman. River shrew, an aquatic West African insectivore (Potamogale velox) resembling a weasel in form and size, but having a large flattened and crested tail adapted for rapid swimming. It feeds on fishes. Shrew mole, a common large North American mole (Scalops aquaticus). Its fine, soft fur is gray with iridescent purple tints.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shrew Shrew, v. t. [See Shrew, a., and cf. Beshrew.] To beshrew; to curse. [Obs.] ``I shrew myself.'' --Chaucer.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(shrews) A shrew is a small brown animal like a mouse with a long pointed nose. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Brawler, scold, termagant, vixen, virago, fury, turbulent woman. 2. Shrew-mouse.

Moby Thesaurus

Chiroptera, Lagomorpha, Primates, Rodentia, Xanthippe, amazon, banshee, battle-ax, beldam, bitch, cat, common scold, crone, dragon, fishwife, fury, hag, harpy, harridan, nag, ogress, scold, she-devil, she-wolf, spitfire, termagant, tigress, virago, vixen, witch