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shrug

[shruhg]

Example Sentences Origin

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verb (used with object)

to raise and contract (the shoulders), expressing indifference, disdain, etc.

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verb (used without object)

to raise and contract the shoulders.

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Shrug is one of our favorite verbs.

So is peculate. Does it mean:

to bark; yelp.

to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.

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noun

the movement of raising and contracting the shoulders.

a short sweater or jacket that ends above or at the waistline.

Verb phrase

shrug off,

to disregard; minimize: to shrug off an insult.

to rid oneself of: to shrug off the effects of a drug.

Origin:
1350–1400; (v.) Middle English schruggen to shudder, shrug < ?; (noun) late Middle English shrugge a tug, pull, derivative of the v.

Related forms

un·shrug·ging, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To shrug

Example Sentences

Most college students would shrug if they heard that a campus bus was on its way home from a field trip.

The big shrug of the comfortable ones has an interest behind it.

Once again, people have begun to shrug off their concerns and pack their bags.

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Most college students would shrug if they heard that a campus bus was on its way home from a field trip.

The big shrug of the comfortable ones has an interest behind it.

Once again, people have begun to shrug off their concerns and pack their bags.

And yet among the climbing cognoscenti the melee elicited little more than a shrug.

I've known talented people who have lost their jobs with little more than a shrug.

We stare in the face of the bureaucracy and shrug our shoulders in a collective act of defeat.

They seem to react to biochemical difficulties that other cells shrug off without even noticing.

Later, others would only shrug when speculating as to why he had chosen this ill-advised tactic.

But readers might be forgiven for greeting the findings with a shrug.

Steele could have scored with nothing more than a shrug.

When pressed, a typical response is no more than a resigned shrug of the shoulders.

He responded with a shrug and a wan smile, and then returned to focusing on the work at hand.

In this so-called cryptobiotic state they can shrug off lethal radiation doses and even the vacuum of space.

Learn to shrug off what you cannot control or change.

Others shrug that playing with an enormous predator is inherently risky.

When it comes to your online image, these companies argue that no one can afford to shrug off a slight.

I've prodded him to get worked up about them, but all he does is shrug.

The civilised response-if the other party is disinclined to renegotiate-is to shrug and move on.

Finally, you shrug when someone remarks that it may not be a good idea to equate soup with freedom of speech.

Higher education at some point will have to shrug it off and get back to the work of seeing the world as it is.

But it is not enough to shrug and wait for that joyous feeling of vindication.

They shrug and raise their palms and go about their business.

The dozen women shrug off their jackets or scarves as a handsome young waiter takes.

It is easy to think of other reasons to shrug shoulders.

Some may shrug off the gap in income between the rich and poor.

They are resilient organisms, with powerful social and economic reasons to shrug off terrorism.

They seem, rather, to shrug off the challenge as of no consequence.

Fruit flies turn in midair with a shrug of their shoulders.

If house prices continue to soar, consumers might shrug off these higher costs by reducing their saving rate yet further.

It's always something, she says with a shrug over coffee in the police cafeteria.

Say what you need to say in a friendly voice, with a smile and empathetic shrug.

There are, though, two criticisms which are harder to shrug off.

Some shrug portable gaming off as a waste of valuable console play time.

The legs shrug off any attempt to spur them into a springier gait.

France seemed to go through a painful spasm of rebellion, then to shrug it all off and resume business as usual.

Now it seems to want to shrug and pretend it never asked for its dominant position.

Ask economists, sociologists or businessmen what the government should reform and you are often met with a baleful shrug.

Experience suggests that stockmarkets shrug off timid rate increases, but bold increases can have dangerous results.

But whatever its outcome, this latest inquiry will be difficult for him to shrug off.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

shrug (ʃrʌɡ)

—vb , shrugs, shrugging, shrugged
1.	to draw up and drop (the shoulders) abruptly in a gesture expressing indifference, contempt, ignorance, etc

—n
2.	the gesture so made
3.	a woman's short jacket or close-fitting cardigan

[C14: of uncertain origin]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

shrug

c.1400, schurgyng, of uncertain origin. Perhaps connected to Dan. skrugge "to stoop, crouch." The noun is first recorded 1594. To shrug (something) off "dismiss" is recorded from 1909.

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Matching Quote

"Why, did you ever know a conceited man dare to praise a picture? The one thing he dreads (next to not being noticed) is to be proven fallible! If you once praise a picture, your character for infallibility hangs by a thread. Suppose it's a figure-picture, and you venture to say "draws well." Somebody measures it, and finds one of the proportions an eighth of an inch wrong. You are disposed of as a critic! "Did you say he draws well?" your friends enquire sarcastically, while you hang your head and blush. No. The only safe course, if any one says "draws well," is to shrug your shoulders. "Draws well?" you repeat thoughtfully. "Draws well? Humph!" That's the way to become a great critic!"

-Lewis Carroll

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