Adjacent Words

Shun definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SHUN, v.t.
1. To avoid; to keep clear of; not to fall on or come in contact with; as, to shun rocks and shoals in navigation. In shunning Scylla, take care to avoid to avoid Charybdis.
2. To avoid; not to mix or associate with; as, to shun evil company.
3. To avoid; not to practice; as, to shun vice.
4. To avoid; to escape; as, to shun a blow.
5. To avoid; to decline; to neglect.
I haved not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God. Acts 20.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of [syn: shun, eschew]
2: expel from a community or group [syn: banish, ban, ostracize, ostracise, shun, cast out, blackball]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (shunned; shunning) Etymology: Middle English shonen, shunnen, from Old English scunian Date: before 12th century to avoid deliberately and especially habitually <shuns publicity> Synonyms: see escape • shunner noun

Britannica Concise

In Chinese mythology, one of the three legendary emperors, along with Yao and Da Yu, of the golden age of antiquity (c.23rd cent. BC), singled out by Confucius as models of integrity and virtue. Though his father repeatedly tried to murder him, Shun remained loyal to him. Because heaven and earth knew of his virtue, animals assisted him in all his labors. The emperor Yao bypassed his own son to select Shun as his successor, and gave him two daughters in marriage. Shun is credited with standardizing weights and measures, regulating waterways, and organizing the kingdom into provinces.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (shunned, shunning) avoid; keep clear of (shuns human company). Etymology: OE scunian, of unkn. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shun Shun, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shunned; p. pr. & vb. n. Shunning.] [OE. shunien, schunien, schonien, AS. scunian, sceonian; cf. D. schuinen to slepe, schuin oblique, sloping, Icel. skunda, skynda, to hasten. Cf. Schooner, Scoundrel, Shunt.] To avoid; to keep clear of; to get out of the way of; to escape from; to eschew; as, to shun rocks, shoals, vice. I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. --Acts xx. 26,27. Scarcity and want shall shun you. --Shak. Syn: See Avoid.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(shuns, shunning, shunned) If you shun someone or something, you deliberately avoid them or keep away from them. From that time forward everybody shunned him... He has always shunned publicity... VERB: V n, V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Avoid (in a positive sense or denoting positive exertion), evade, escape, elude, eschew, get clear of, get out of the way of, escape from. 2. Decline, neglect.

Moby Thesaurus

abstain, abstain from, avoid, be stuck-up, bilk, cold-shoulder, decline, despise, disdain, do without, dodge, double, duck, elude, eschew, evade, fight shy of, forbear, forgo, give place to, give up, hold aloof, hold aloof from, hold back, keep aloof, keep away from, keep clear of, keep from, keep hands off, keep remote from, let alone, let go by, make way for, never touch, not meddle with, not touch, pass up, rebuff, refrain, refrain from, refuse, reject, run away from, scorn, shrink from, shy, snub, spare, spurn, stand, stand aloof, stand aloof from, stay detached from, steer clear of, turn away from, withhold