shrew
1a woman of violent temper and speech; termagant.
Origin of shrew
1Other words for shrew
Other words from shrew
- shrewlike, adjective
Words Nearby shrew
Other definitions for shrew (2 of 2)
any of several small, mouselike insectivores of the genus Sorex and related genera, having a long, sharp snout.
Origin of shrew
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use shrew in a sentence
For example, in the masked shrew, tail and leg length have increased significantly since 1950.
New Research Reveals Animals Are Changing Their Body Shapes to Cope With Climate Change | Matthew Symonds | September 10, 2021 | Singularity HubSince then, scientists have taken samples from thousands of animals, including shrews and lizards.
Next were short-tailed shrews, with reddish teeth and venomous saliva.
How to hunt for star-nosed moles (and their holes) | Kenneth Catania | September 15, 2020 | Popular-ScienceThat’s because all chicks are entirely dependent on the parents for food, and food, in this case, is usually a small rodent, like a vole or a shrew, that can’t be easily split.
Barn owlets share food with their younger siblings in exchange for grooming | Pratik Pawar | June 16, 2020 | Science NewsWhat gives tree shrews their drinking superpower, however, remains a mystery.
Why elephants and armadillos might easily get drunk | Susan Milius | June 4, 2020 | Science News For Students
Read another way, she is a horrible mother, an uptight snob, and a bit of a shrew.
Colm Toibin Describes The Creation Of His Quiet Masterpiece ‘Nora Webster’ | Jennie Yabroff | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAll the parts for women are awful, and chauvinistic and they have to play a shrew.
The Sex Scenes in ‘The Spectacular Now’ Are Awkward, Honest, and All Too Real | Anna Klassen | August 2, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTHer popularity is up, her guard is down, and her image as a shrew is a relic of the past.
How Hillary Clinton Got Hot After Years of Being Stuck With a Cold Image | Howard Kurtz | April 13, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThat's especially evident in the sequence with an elephant shrew in Africa.
Saying this, the shrew pointed to a confused form, hidden under a long white veil that trailed on the floor.
The Pilgrim's Shell or Fergan the Quarryman | Eugne SueThen, the masked shrew—for so we humans have named this escape from Lilliput—flashed out into the open.
Wild Folk | Samuel ScovilleThis flexible muzzle he twisted here and there, sniffing uncertainly, for the shrew has but little sense of smell.
Wild Folk | Samuel ScovilleHis head angled into a long whiskered snout, so pointed that from above the shrew looked like a big pen.
Wild Folk | Samuel ScovilleConfident in the fighting ability of his family, he had yet to learn that odds are nothing to a shrew.
Wild Folk | Samuel Scoville
British Dictionary definitions for shrew
/ (ʃruː) /
Also called: shrewmouse any small mouse-like long-snouted mammal, such as Sorex araneus (common shrew), of the family Soricidae: order Insectivora (insectivores): See also water shrew Related adjective: soricine
a bad-tempered or mean-spirited woman
Origin of shrew
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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