Meaning

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

Definitions by Sense

1. A fragment of something; a particle; a piece; also, a very small amount.
2. A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing.
3. (archaic) A piece of gold or silver lace or thread.
4. (rare) A shard or sherd (“a piece of broken glass or pottery”).
5. (obsolete) A tailor.
6. To cut or tear (something) into long, narrow pieces or strips.
7. To destroy (a document) by cutting or tearing into strips or small pieces that cannot easily be read, especially using a shredder.
8. To cut (fruit peel, a vegetable, etc.) into thin strips that curl.

Example Sentences

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: […]

They ſaid they vvere an hungry, ſigh'd forth Prouerbes / That Hunger-broke ſtone vvals: that dogges muſt eate / That meate vvas made for mouths. That the gods ſent not / Corne for the Richmen onely: VVith theſe ſhreds / They vented their Complainings, […]

[…] And like a ſon of Belial, vvithout the hire of Jeſabel, charges me of blaſpheming God and the King, as ordinarily he imagines me to drink Sack and ſvveare, meerely becauſe this vvas a ſhred in his common place-Book, […]

He munched a shred of toast, and was off by the omnibus to chambers.

But signalman Bridges was never to answer driver Gimbert's desperate question. A deafening, massive blast blew the wagon to shreds, the 44 high-explosive bombs exploding like simultaneous hits from the aircraft they should have been dropped from. The station was instantly reduced to bits of debris, and the line to a huge crater.

To leaue him that bare a Monarkes minde, / For a king of clovvts, of very ſhreads.

[…] Gold being grovvn ſomevvhat churliſh by recovering, is made more pliant by throvving in ſhreds of tanned Leather, or any Leather oiled.

Word Forms

• shreds
• shredding
• shredded
• shred
• no-table-tags
• glossary
• shreddest
• shreddedst
• shreddeth
• -
• more shred
• most shred

Synonyms for shred

Related Words

When Should You Use Shred?

Use shred when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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