Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various small, chiefly insectivorous mammals of the family Soricidae, resembling a mouse but having a long pointed snout and small eyes and ears.
- noun A woman regarded as an ill-tempered scold or nag.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A wicked or evil person; a malignant person.
- noun A woman of a perverse, violent, or malignant temper; a scold; a termagant.
- noun An evil thing; a great danger.
- noun A planet of evil or malignant aspect or influence.
- Wicked; evil; ill-natured; unkind.
- noun A small insectivorous mammal of the genus Sorex or family Soricidæ; a shrew-mouse.
- To make evil; deprave.
- To curse; beshrew.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Originally, a brawling, turbulent, vexatious person of either sex, but now restricted in use to females; a brawler; a scold.
- noun (Zoöl.) Any small insectivore of the genus Sorex and several allied genera of the family
Sorecidæ . In form and color they resemble mice, but they have a longer and more pointed nose. Some of them are the smallest of all mammals. - noun any shrewlike burrowing animal of the family
Centetidæ , as the tendrac. - noun See under
Elephant ,Jumping , etc. - noun See
Desman . - noun 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. - noun a common large North American mole (
Scalops aquaticus ). Its fine, soft fur is gray with iridescent purple tints. - adjective obsolete Wicked; malicious.
- transitive verb obsolete To beshrew; to curse.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of numerous small
mouselike , chieflynocturnal , mammals of the familySoricidae . - noun An ill-tempered, nagging woman: a
scold . - verb obsolete, transitive To
beshrew ; tocurse .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a scolding nagging bad-tempered woman
- noun small mouselike mammal with a long snout; related to moles
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Our forefathers provided themselves with what they called a shrew-ash, in order to meet the case.
Among the Trees at Elmridge Ella Rodman Church
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The role of domestic shrew is played, to some extent, by Summerset.
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The new shrew is presently only known from mid montane and lowland rainforests of Sinharaja.
Archive 2008-03-01 2008
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"The musk shrew is a very primitive ancestor of primates and when given to the females they displayed reproductive behaviour, and the males would mate with them."
Pill for Women that Raises Sex Drive, Lowers Weight | Impact Lab 2007
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The Pantelleria shrew is controversial, with various studies indicating that it is a subspecies of the Greater white-toothed shrew (C. russula).
The first new European mammal in 100 years? You must be joking Darren Naish 2006
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Though first described as a subspecies of the Common shrew S. araneus, the Spanish shrew is strongly distinct genetically and in having a particularly unusual short skull.
Archive 2006-10-01 Darren Naish 2006
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The Pantelleria shrew is controversial, with various studies indicating that it is a subspecies of the Greater white-toothed shrew (C. russula).
Archive 2006-10-01 Darren Naish 2006
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The Appenine shrew is endemic to Italy, and while formerly regarded by some as conspecific with the Common shrew, it is quite different, having a much shorter tail for example.
The first new European mammal in 100 years? You must be joking Darren Naish 2006
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The Appenine shrew is endemic to Italy, and while formerly regarded by some as conspecific with the Common shrew, it is quite different, having a much shorter tail for example.
Archive 2006-10-01 Darren Naish 2006
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Though first described as a subspecies of the Common shrew S. araneus, the Spanish shrew is strongly distinct genetically and in having a particularly unusual short skull.
The first new European mammal in 100 years? You must be joking Darren Naish 2006
bilby commented on the word shrew
Madam, though I am one of those
That every Spring use to compose,
That is, add feet unto round Prose :
Yet you further art disclose,
And can, as every body knows,
Add to those feet fine dainty toes.
Satyrs add nails, but they are shrews,
My Muse therefore no further goes,
But for her feet craves shooes and hose.
- Edward Herbert, 'A merry Rime sent to the Lady Wroth upon the Birth of my L. of Pembroke's Child, born in the Spring'.
July 27, 2009