shred

plural shreds

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

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

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   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: […]

   1593, Gabriell Haruey [i.e., Gabriel Harvey], Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame, London: […] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC; republished as John Payne Collier, editor, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. […] (Miscellaneous Tracts. Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I; no. 8), [London]: [s.n.], [1870], →OCLC, page 66

   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, […]

   c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 2, column 2

   […] 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, […]

   1642 April, John Milton, An Apology for Smectymnuus; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume I, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, page 178

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

   1860 January–June, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “In which I Play the Spy”, in Lovel the Widower, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1861, →OCLC, page 88

   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.

   2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The Heroes of Soham …”, in Rail, number 948, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 43

   Synonyms: ounce, ace, atom, thought, atomy, aught, bissel, continental

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

   They have hung a shred of carpet out of an upstairs window— […]

   1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “How Captain Dobbin Bought a Piano”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 144

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

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and Iohn Trundell, published 1603, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]

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

   a. 1627 (date written), Francis Bacon, “[Baconiana Physiologica. […].] Articles of Questions Touching Minerals; […]. [What be the Compound Metals that are Common and Known? and What are the Proportions of Their Mixtures?]”, in [Thomas Tenison], editor, Baconiana. Or Certain Genuine Remains of Sr. Francis Bacon, […], London: […] J. D. for Richard Chiswell, […], published 1679, →OCLC, page 109

   Yet the Bible is like a fair Suit of Arras, of vvhich though a Shread may aſſure you of the fineneſs of the Colours, and Richneſs of the ſtuff, yet the Hangings never appear to their true Advantage, but vvhen they are diſplay'd to their full Dimenſions, and ſeen together.

   1663, Robert Boyle, Some Considerations Touching the Style of the H[oly] Scriptures. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, page 72

   To-day they were to trim the grape-vine, so Kit mounted half-way up a short ladder, and began to snip and hammer away, while the old gentleman, with a great interest in his proceedings, handed up the nails and shreds of cloth as he wanted them.

   1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Fortieth”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC, page 14

   A wandering minstrel I— / A thing of shreds and patches, / Of ballads, songs and snatches, / And dreamy lullaby!

   1885, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert; Arthur Sullivan, composer, “Song—Nanki-Poo”, in […] The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, London: Chappel & Co., […], →OCLC, Act I, page 4

   1. broadlyA thin strand or wisp, as of a cloud, mist, etc.
   2. cookingA thin strip of fruit peel, a vegetable, etc., cut so that it curls.

      Three shreds of celery in a glass.

      1840, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “A Shabby Genteel Dinner, and Other Incidents of a Like Nature”, in “A Shabby Genteel Story”, in Miscellanies: Prose and Verse, volume IV, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC, page 254

3. archaicA piece of gold or silver lace or thread.

   But, vvhen a tvvelvemonth paſs'd avvay, / Jack found his goddeſs made of clay; / Found half the charms that deck'd her face, / Aroſe from povvder, ſhreds, or lace; […]

   1765, [Oliver] Goldsmith, “Essay XXVI. The Double Transformation: A Tale.”, in Essays. […], London: […] W[illiam] Griffin […], →OCLC, pages 230–231

4. rareA shard or sherd (“a piece of broken glass or pottery”).

   And when he neared Brandon he pulled up, sorted his pots, kept the whole ones, threw the shreds at the rabbits, and walked on into Brandon solemnly, leading the mare, and crying "Pots!"

   1866, C[harles] Kingsley, “How Hereward Played the Potter; and How He Cheated the King”, in Hereward the Wake, “Last of the English.” […], volume II, London; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 169

5. obsoleteA tailor.

   Mer[curie]. Is it ſo, ſir, you impudent Poultroun? you ſlaue, you liſt, you ſhreds, you.— […] Ana[ides]. S'foot, vve muſt vſe our taylors thus.

   1600 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act V, scene iv, page 246

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   As if thou ere vver't angry / But vvith thy Taylor, and yet that poore ſhred / Can bring more to the making vp of a man, / Then can be hop'd from thee: […]

   c. 1619 (date written), P[hilip] M[assinger], N[athan] F[ield], The Fatall Dowry: A Tragedy. […], London: […] Iohn Norton, for Francis Constable, […], published 1632, →OCLC, Act III

present singular third person shreds · participle present shredding · past shredded · participle past shredded · first person past singular shredded · archaic present second person singular shreddest · past second person singular shredded · archaic past second person singular shreddedst · present singular third person shreds · archaic present singular third person shreddeth · past singular third person shredded · past plural shredded · past subjunctive shredded · participle present shredding · participle past shredded

1. transitiveTo cut or tear (something) into long, narrow pieces or strips.

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   Take a little grated Bread, ſome Beef-ſuet, yolks of hard Eggs, three Anchovies, a bit of an Onion, Salt and Pepper, Tyme and VVinter-ſavory, tvvelve Oyſters, ſome Nutmeg grated; mix all theſe together, and ſhred them very fine, and vvork them up vvith ravv Eggs like a paſte, and ſtuff your Mutton under the Skin in the thickeſt place, or vvhere you pleaſe, and roaſt it; […]

   1729, E[liza] S[mith], “To Stuff a Shoulder or Leg of Mutton with Oysters”, in The Compleat Housewife: Or, Accomplished Gentlewoman’s Companion: […], 3rd edition, London: […] J[ohn] Pemberton, […], →OCLC, page 10

2. specificallytransitiveTo destroy (a document) by cutting or tearing into strips or small pieces that cannot easily be read, especially using a shredder.

   But then there was the awkward incident of the tearing of the writs. Nigel, to whom a lie was an impossibility, had to admit that with his own hands he had shredded those august documents.

   1905–1906, Arthur Conan Doyle, “How Nigel was Tried by the Abbot of Waverley”, in Sir Nigel, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], published January 1906, →OCLC, page 53

3. specificallytransitivecookingTo cut (fruit peel, a vegetable, etc.) into thin strips that curl.
4. transitiveTo separate (something) into small portions.

   Hunger was shred into atomies in every farthing porringer of husky chips of potato, fried with some reluctant drops of oil.

   1859, Charles Dickens, “The Wine-shop”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book I (Recalled to Life), page 19

5. figurativelyslangtransitiveTo reduce (something) by a large percentage; to slash.

   Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, never wanted his customers to worry about shipping – about how much it cost, or about how long it would take – and he relentlessly shredded delivery times to make shipping incidental to the purchasing experience.

   2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Dec 2021

6. figurativelyslangtransitiveentertainmentChiefly in rock and heavy metal: to play (a musical instrument (especially a guitar) or a piece of music) very fast and in a way that requires technical skill.
7. figurativelyslangtransitivehobbiesTo cut through (snow, water, etc.) swiftly with one's snowboard, surfboard, etc.; (by extension) to move or ride along (a road, track, etc.) aggressively and rapidly.
8. figurativelyslangtransitiveTo convincingly defeat (someone); to thrash, to trounce.
9. archaictransitiveTo cut or sever (something) into two parts.

   Then ſince (quoth ſhe) the terme of each mans life / For nought may leſſened nor enlarged bee, / Graunt this, that vvhen ye ſhred vvith fatall knife / His line, vvhich is the eldeſt of the three, / VVhich of them the ſhorteſt, as I ſee, / Eftſoones his life may paſſe into the next; […]

   1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 52, pages 35–36

10. obsoletetransitiveTo chop or cut (something) into pieces.

    How? speak more at length. Thou snippest off news as a housewife shreddeth leeks.

    1851, Henry Hayman, “Carthage”, in Dialogues of the Early Church: […], London: Skeffington and Southwell, […], →OCLC, part IV (The Shore of the Harbour), page 117

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    Another vvafts his Blade about his head, / And ſhevvs them hovv their hãſtrings [hamstrings] he vvil ſhread.

    1627, Michaell [i.e., Michael] Drayton, “The Battaile of Agincourt”, in The Battaile of Agincourt. […], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for William Lee, […], →OCLC, page 43

    Seeſt thou this, bold bright blade? / This Sword ſhall ſhred thee as ſmall unto the Grave, / As minc'd meat for a Pie.

    1633 (first performance), Ben Jonson, “A Tale of a Tub. A Comedy […]”, in The Works of Beniamin Jonson, […] (Third Folio), London: […] Thomas Hodgkin, for H[enry] Herringman, E. Brewster, T. Bassett, R[ichard] Chiswell, M. Wotton, G. Conyers, published 1692, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii, page 525, column 1

    Morality ſhreddeth ſinne as a garden knot; but Religion ſtubbeth it up by the roots.

    1658, Samuel Crook [i.e., Samuel Crooke], “The Moral Hypocrite is He, in whom Reason Putteth Religion out of Office”, in C[hristopher] B[arker], W[illiam] G[arret], editors, ΤΑ ΔΙΑΦΕΡΟΝΤΑ [TA DIAPHERONTA], or Divine Characters in Tvvo Parts, […], London: […] Adoniram Byfeild […], →OCLC, 1st part, page 40

11. obsoletetransitiveTo cut, lop, or strip (branches, etc.) off; also, to cut (a piece) from something.

    They durst not, for their island, shred / One golden ringlet from her head.

    1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Third. The Hostel, or Inn.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza XVII, page 150

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    To call in queſtion the iuriſdiction of Archbiſhops, they affirme that no man is to take vpon him an office but hee that is called, as vvas Aaron: but they are not avvare, that the ſame poſition ſhreddeth avvay the vvilde autoritie of doctors, elders, conſiſtorie, conferences, & their abſurd and irregular Synodes, vvhich (as enemies in an aſſault enter the breach) vvould ſteale into the Church through the ruines thereof.

    1590, Matth[ew] Sutcliffe, “Of the Contrarietie of Their Discipline”, in A Treatise of Ecclesiasticall Discipline: […], London: […] George Bishop and Ralph Nevvberie, →OCLC, page 111

    You ly, you ly, Gabriell: I know what you are about to ſaye, but He ſhred you off three leaves at one blowe.

    1596, Tho[mas] Nashe, “Dialogus”, in Haue with You to Saffron-Walden. Or, Gabriell Harveys Hunt is Up. […], London: […] John Danter, →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, Have with You to Saffron-Walden (Miscellaneous Tracts; Temp. Eliz. and Jac. I), [London: s.n., 1870], →OCLC, page 130

    [A]ll vſurie in it ovvne nature is biting, becauſe it biteth or ſhreddeth avvay ſome of the borrovvers ſubſtance.

    1604, George Downame, “What Vsurie is”, in Lectures on the XV. Psalme: […], London: […] Adam Islip for Cuthbert Burbie, […], →OCLC, page 194

    [C]rooked Trees may be made ſtreight by ſhredding up of the Side-branches till you come above the Crook, vvhere they are young.

    1708, J[ohn] Mortimer, “Of Pruning Forest-trees”, in The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC, book XII, page 396

    Every yard of this ground, excepting the path which we now occupy, is rendered dangerous, and well nigh impracticable, by snares and traps, armed with scythe-blades, which shred off the unwary passenger's limb as sheerly as a hedge-bill lops a hawthorn-sprig— […]

    1823, [Walter Scott], “The Wanderer”, in Quentin Durward. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, pages 41–42

12. obsoletetransitiveTo prune or trim (a tree, a vineyard, etc.).

    As for Timber-trees, it is beſt not to head them at all, but to ſhred them up to one ſingle Bough, if the Soil be good that you plant them in; […]

    1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, “Of Transplanting of Trees”, in The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC, pages 386–387

13. intransitiveTo become separated into small portions.

    What is this that rises before me? Mist, mist, rolling mist with a square black tower above it. See it shreds out, it thins, it rises, and there lies a castle in a green plain, with the sea beneath it, and a great church within a bow-shot.

    1891, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “How the Blessed Hour of Sight Came to the Lady Tiphaine”, in The White Company […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 68

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    We couldn't see over the wall of smoke, and we couldn't see through it. But at last it began to shred away lazily, and by the end of another quarter-hour the land was clear and our curiosity was enabled to satisfy itself. No living creature was in sight!

    1889, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “The Battle of the Sand-belt”, in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, New York, N.Y.: Charles L. Webster & Company, →OCLC, page 554

14. intransitivebodybuildingTo reduce body weight due to fat and water before a competition.
15. intransitiveusuallyhobbiesTo travel swiftly using a snowboard, surfboard, or vehicle.

comparative more shred · superlative most shred

1. Synonym of shredded (“cut or torn into narrow strips or small pieces”).

   The ſtinging alſo of ſhred Horſ-hair, which in meriment is often ſtrew'd between the ſheets of a Bed, ſeems to proceed from the ſame cauſe.

   1665, R[obert] Hooke, “Observ[ation] XXV. Of the Stinging Points and Juice of Nettles, and Some Other Venemous Plants.”, in Micrographia: Or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC, page 147

   Synonyms: shredded