Lexic.us

Definition of Shrew

1. Noun. A scolding nagging bad-tempered woman.

2. Noun. Small mouselike mammal with a long snout; related to moles.

Definition of Shrew

1. a. Wicked; malicious.

2. n. Originally, a brawling, turbulent, vexatious person of either sex, but now restricted in use to females; a brawler; a scold.

3. v. t. To beshrew; to curse.

Definition of Shrew

1. Noun. Any of numerous small mouselike, chiefly nocturnal, mammals of the family ''Soricidae''. ¹

2. Noun. An ill-tempered, nagging woman: a scold. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Shrew

1. to curse [v -ED, -ING, -S] - See also: curse

Medical Definition of Shrew

1. 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. Screawa; so called because supposed to be venomous. Any small insectivore of the genus Sorex and several allied genera of the family Sorecidae. In form and colour they resemble mice, but they have a longer and more pointed nose. Some of them are the smallest of all mammals. 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 Centetidae, as the tendrac. Elephant shrew, Jumping shrew, Mole shrew. See 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. See: Shrew. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Shrew

shredders shreddier shreddies shredding shreddy shredless shreds shreek shreeked shreeking

shreeks shreik shreiked shreiking shreiks shrew mole shreward shrewards shrewd shrewder

shrewdest shrewdie shrewdies shrewdish shrewdly shrewdness shrewdnesses shrewed shrewing

Literary usage of Shrew

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature (1907)
"It was said to differ in having the tail longer than the body (without the head), whereas in the common shrew the body (without the head) is longer than the ..."

2. The Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare, Evangeline Maria O'Connor (1901)
"The Taming of The shrew was first printed in the First Folio. ... The Taming of A shrew. The old original of The Taming of The shrew is extant, ..."

3. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General by Thomas Spencer Baynes (1888)
"It was said to differ in having the tail longer than the body (without the head), whereas in the common shrew the body (without the head) is longer than the ..."

4. Shakespeare's Life and Work: Being an Abridgement, Chiefly for the Use of by Sidney Lee (1900)
"From 'The Taming of A shrew,' a comedy first published in 1594, Shakespeare drew the Induction and the scenes in which the hero Petruchio conquers Catherine ..."

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