Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb UK, vulgar To defecate.
  • noun UK, Ireland, vulgar Shit, trash, rubbish.
  • noun UK, Ireland, pejorative A foolish or deceitful person.
  • adjective UK, Ireland, vulgar Bad, awful, shit.
  • interjection UK, Ireland, vulgar An expression of surprise, contempt, outrage, disgust, boredom, or frustration.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun obscene terms for feces

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Middle English shiten, to defecate, from Old English *scītan; see skei- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English schiten, from Old English scītan ("to defecate, shit"), from Proto-Germanic *skītanan (“to defecate”), from Proto-Indo-European *sḱeyd-, *skeyt- (“to vomit, retch, shit”, literally "to shed"). Cognate with Dutch schijten ("to shit"), German scheissen ("to shit"), Swedish skita ("to shit"), Irish sceith, sgeith ("act of spewing, vomiting, shedding"), Albanian shqit ("to tear, separate").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Middle English schīte ("excrement"), cognate with Middle Low German schīte, Middle High German schīze. More at shit.

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Examples

Comments

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  • -- O! Mr Dedalus cried, giving vent to a hopeless groan, shite and onions!

    Joyce, Ulysses, 7

    January 2, 2007

  • I was just over at mandals, and now I find myself wondering... what's the difference between shit and shite?

    Normally I would turn to our resident expert for help on such matters, but in this case I think I need to consult some non-Americans.

    September 1, 2008

  • None as far as I can see/smell ptero. But the pronunciation of shite, plus the fact that it's relatively uncommon, gives it added bite.

    In some British dialects shite is standard. No Scotsman worth his pasty suntan would say shit, for example.

    September 1, 2008