shred

CEFRB2

/ʃɹɛd/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To tear or cut something into small pieces.

  2. 02

    noun

    A small torn piece of paper, cloth, or material.

Examples

  • Let's shred your wings into small pieces and throw them away.

  • The last shred of hope had vanished from her heart.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meaning

  1. A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing.

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A fragment of something; a particle; a piece; also, a very small amount.

  2. A thin strip of fruit peel, a vegetable, etc., cut so that it curls.

More examples

In context

  • There isn’t a shred of evidence to support his claims.

  • 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: […]

  • Three shreds of celery in a glass.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The office worker needed to blank the confidential paper files before secure disposal.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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.