shrew
pronunciation
How to pronounce shrew in British English:
UK [ʃru:]
How to pronounce shrew in American English:
US [ʃru]
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- Noun:
- a scolding nagging bad-tempered woman
- small mouselike mammal with a long snout; related to moles
Word Origin
- shrew (n.)
- small insectivorous mammal, Old English screawa "shrew-mouse," unknown outside English, and "the absence of evidence for the word between the OE. period and the 16th c is remarkable" [OED]. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *skraw-, from PIE *skreu- "to cut; cutting tool" (see shred (n.)), in reference to the shrew's pointed snout. Alternative Old English word for it was scirfemus, from sceorfan "to gnaw." The meaning "peevish, malignant, clamorous, spiteful, vexatious, turbulent woman" [Johnson] is late 14c., from earlier sense of "spiteful person" (male or female), mid-13c., traditionally said to derive from some supposed malignant influence of the animal, which was once believed to have a venomous bite and was held in superstitious dread (compare beshrew). Paired with sheep from 1560s as the contrasting types of wives.
Example
- 1. The shrew was always at enmity with her neighbors .
- 2. He found himself married to a vulgar shrew .
- 3. He said she wanted the shrew !
- 4. There can be no contentment when the shrew is on the scene !
- 5. I don 't want to go home to that shrew .