Shepherdish - Shilling

Prev Next

Shepherdish (?), n. Resembling a shepherd; suiting a shepherd; pastoral. Sir T. Sidney.
[ Webster]

Shepherdism (?), n. Pastoral life or occupation.
[ Webster]

Shepherdling (?), n. A little shepherd.
[ Webster]

Shepherdly (?), a. Resembling, or becoming to, a shepherd; pastoral; rustic. [R.] Jer. Taylor.
[ Webster]

Shepster (?), n. A seamstress. [Obs.] Caxton.
[ Webster]

Sherardize (?), v. t. [From Sherard Cowper-Coles, the inventor.] (Metal.) To subject to the process of vapor galvanizing (which see, below).
[Webster Suppl.]

Sherbet (?), n. [Ar. sherbet, shorbet, sharbat, properly, one drink or sip, a draught, beverage, from shariba to drink. Cf. , , a drink.] 1. A refreshing drink, common in the East, made of the juice of some fruit, diluted, sweetened, and flavored in various ways; as, orange sherbet; lemon sherbet; raspberry sherbet, etc.
[ Webster]

2. A flavored water ice.
[ Webster]

3. A preparation of bicarbonate of soda, tartaric acid, sugar, etc., variously flavored, for making an effervescing drink; -- called also sherbet powder.
[ Webster]

Sherd (?), n. A fragment; -- now used only in composition, as in potsherd. See .
[ Webster]

The thigh . . . which all in sherds it drove. Chapman.
[ Webster]

{ Shereef (?), Sherif (?), } n. [Ar. sherīf noble, holy, n., a prince.] A member of an Arab princely family descended from Mohammed through his son-in-law Ali and daughter Fatima. The Grand Shereef is the governor of Mecca.
[ Webster]

Sheriat (?), n. [Turk. sherī 'at] The sacred law of the Turkish empire.
[ Webster]

Sheriff, n. [OE. shereve, AS. scīr-ger�fa; scīr a shire + ger�fa a reeve. See Shire, and , and cf. .] The chief officer of a shire or county, to whom is intrusted the execution of the laws, the serving of judicial writs and processes, and the preservation of the peace.
[ Webster]

☞ In England, sheriffs are appointed by the king. In the United States, sheriffs are elected by the legislature or by the citizens, or appointed and commissioned by the executive of the State. The office of sheriff in England is judicial and ministerial. In the United States, it is mainly ministerial. The sheriff, by himself or his deputies, executes civil and criminal process throughout the county, has charge of the jail and prisoners, attends courts, and keeps the peace. His judicial authority is generally confined to ascertaining damages on writs of inquiry and the like. Sheriff, in Scotland, called sheriff depute, is properly a judge, having also certain ministerial powers. Sheriff clerk is the clerk of the Sheriff's Court in Scotland. Sheriff's Court in London is a tribunal having cognizance of certain personal actions in that city. Wharton, Tomlins. Erskine.
[ Webster]

{ Sheriffalty (?), Sheriffdom (?), Sheriffry (?), Sheriffship (?), Sheriffwick (?), n. } The office or jurisdiction of sheriff. See .
[ Webster]

Shern (?), n. See . [Obs.]
[ Webster]

Sherris (?), n. Sherry. [Obs.] Shak.
[ Webster]

Sherry (?), n. [So called from Xeres, a Spanish town near Cadiz, x in Spanish having been formerly pronounced like sh in English.] A Spanish light-colored dry wine, made in Andalusia. As prepared for commerce it is colored a straw color or a deep amber by mixing with it cheap wine boiled down.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Sherry cobbler , a beverage prepared with sherry wine, water, lemon or orange, sugar, ice, etc., and usually imbided through a straw or a glass tube.
[ Webster]

Sherryvallies (?), n. pl. [Cf. Sp. zaraquelles wide breeches or overalls.] Trousers or overalls of thick cloth or leather, buttoned on the outside of each leg, and generally worn to protect other trousers when riding on horseback. [Local, U.S.] Bartlett.
[ Webster]

Shet (?), v. t. & i. [imp. Shet. (Obs. Shette (� or �)); p. pr. Shet; p. pr. & vb. n. Shetting.] To shut. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]

Shete (?), v. t. & i. To shoot. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]

Sheth (?), n. The part of a plow which projects downward beneath the beam, for holding the share and other working parts; -- also called standard, or post.
[ Webster]

Shetland pony (?). One of a small, hardy breed of horses, with long mane and tail, which originated in the Shetland Islands; a sheltie.
[ Webster]

Shew (?), v. t. & i. See .
[ Webster]

Shew, n. Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
[ Webster]

Shewbread (?). See .
[ Webster]

Shewel (?), n. A scarecrow. [Obs.] Trench.
[ Webster]

Shewer (?), n. One who shews. See .
[ Webster]

Shewn (?), p. p. of .
[ Webster]

Shiah (?), n. Same as .
[ Webster]

Shibboleth (?), n. [Heb. shibbōleth an ear of corn, or a stream, a flood.] 1. A word which was made the criterion by which to distinguish the Ephraimites from the Gileadites. The Ephraimites, not being able to pronounce sh, called the word sibboleth. See Judges xii.
[ Webster]

Without reprieve, adjudged to death,
For want of well pronouncing shibboleth. Milton.
[ Webster]

Also used in an extended sense.
[ Webster]

The th, with its twofold value, is . . . the shibboleth of foreigners. Earle.
[ Webster]

2. Hence, the criterion, test, or watchword of a party; a party cry or pet phrase.
[ Webster]

Shicer (shīsẽr), n. [Prob. fr. G. scheisser one who defecates.] (Mining) An unproductive mine; a duffer. [Australia]
[Webster Suppl.]

Shide (shīd), n. [OE. shide, schide, AS. scīde; akin to OHG. scīt, G. scheit, Icel. skīð, and E. shed, v.t.] A thin board; a billet of wood; a splinter. [Prov. Eng.]
[ Webster]

Shie (?), v. t. See , to throw.
[ Webster]

Shied (?), imp. & p. p. of .
[ Webster]

Shiel, n. A sheeling. [Scot.] Burns.
[ Webster]

Shield (?), n. [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjöldr, Sw. sköld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. .] 1. A broad piece of defensive armor, carried on the arm, -- formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body. See .
[ Webster]

Now put your shields before your hearts and fight,
With hearts more proof than shields. Shak.
[ Webster]

2. Anything which protects or defends; defense; shelter; protection. “My council is my shield.” Shak.
[ Webster]

3. Figuratively, one who protects or defends.
[ Webster]

Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. Gen. xv. 1.
[ Webster]

4. (Bot.) In lichens, a Hardened cup or disk surrounded by a rim and containing the fructification, or asci.
[ Webster]

5. (Her.) The escutcheon or field on which are placed the bearings in coats of arms. Cf. . See Illust. of .
[ Webster]

6. (Mining & Tunneling) A framework used to protect workmen in making an adit under ground, and capable of being pushed along as excavation progresses.
[ Webster]

7. A spot resembling, or having the form of, a shield. “Bespotted as with shields of red and black.” Spenser.
[ Webster]

8. A coin, the old French crown, or écu, having on one side the figure of a shield. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Shield fern (Bot.), any fern of the genus Aspidium, in which the fructifications are covered with shield-shaped indusia; -- called also wood fern. See Illust. of .
[ Webster]

Shield (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shielded; p. pr. & vb. n. Shielding.] [AS. scidan, scyldan. See , n.] 1. To cover with, or as with, a shield; to cover from danger; to defend; to protect from assault or injury.
[ Webster]

Shouts of applause ran ringing through the field,
To see the son the vanquished father shield. Dryden.
[ Webster]

A woman's shape doth shield thee. Shak.
[ Webster]

2. To ward off; to keep off or out.
[ Webster]

They brought with them their usual weeds, fit to shield the cold to which they had been inured. Spenser.
[ Webster]

3. To avert, as a misfortune; hence, as a supplicatory exclamation, forbid! [Obs.]
[ Webster]

God shield that it should so befall. Chaucer.
[ Webster]

God shield I should disturb devotion! Shak.
[ Webster]

Shield-bearer (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, carries a shield.
[ Webster]

2. (Zoöl.) Any small moth of the genus Aspidisca, whose larva makes a shieldlike covering for itself out of bits of leaves.
[ Webster]

Shielddrake (?), n. (Zoöl.) A sheldrake.
[ Webster]

Shieldless, a. Destitute of a shield, or of protection. -- Shieldlessly, adv. -- Shieldlessness, n.
[ Webster]

Shieldtail (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any species of small burrowing snakes of the family Uropeltidæ, native of Ceylon and Southern Asia. They have a small mouth which can not be dilated.
[ Webster]

Shieling (?), n. A hut or shelter for shepherds of fishers. See . [Scot.]
[ Webster]

Shift (shĭft), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shifted; p. pr. & vb. n. Shifting.] [OE. shiften, schiften, to divide, change, remove. AS. sciftan to divide; akin to LG. & D. schiften to divide, distinguish, part Icel. skipta to divide, to part, to shift, to change, Dan skifte, Sw. skifta, and probably to Icel. skīfa to cut into slices, as n., a slice, and to E. shive, sheave, n., shiver, n.] 1. To divide; to distribute; to apportion. [Obs.]
[ Webster]

To which God of his bounty would shift
Crowns two of flowers well smelling. Chaucer.
[ Webster]

2. To change the place of; to move or remove from one place to another; as, to shift a burden from one shoulder to another; to shift the blame.
[ Webster]

Hastily he schifte him[self]. Piers Plowman.
[ Webster]

Pare saffron between the two St. Mary's days,
Or set or go shift it that knowest the ways. Tusser.
[ Webster]

3. To change the position of; to alter the bearings of; to turn; as, to shift the helm or sails.
[ Webster]

Carrying the oar loose, [they] shift it hither and thither at pleasure. Sir W. Raleigh.
[ Webster]

4. To exchange for another of the same class; to remove and to put some similar thing in its place; to change; as, to shift the clothes; to shift the scenes.
[ Webster]

I would advise you to shift a shirt. Shak.
[ Webster]

5. To change the clothing of; -- used reflexively. [Obs.]
[ Webster]

As it were to ride day and night; and . . . not to have patience to shift me. Shak.
[ Webster]

6. To put off or out of the way by some expedient. “I shifted him away.” Shak.
[ Webster]

Coloq. To shift off , to delay; to defer; to put off; to lay aside. -- Coloq. To shift the scene , to change the locality or the surroundings, as in a play or a story.
[ Webster]

Shift the scene for half an hour;
Time and place are in thy power. Swift.
[ Webster]

Shift, v. i. 1. To divide; to distribute. [Obs.]
[ Webster]

Some this, some that, as that him liketh shift. Chaucer.
[ Webster]

2. To make a change or changes; to change position; to move; to veer; to substitute one thing for another; -- used in the various senses of the transitive verb.
[ Webster]

The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon. Shak.
[ Webster]

Here the Baillie shifted and fidgeted about in his seat. Sir W. Scott.
[ Webster]

3. To resort to expedients for accomplishing a purpose; to contrive; to manage.
[ Webster]

Men in distress will look to themselves, and leave their companions to shift as well as they can. L'Estrange.
[ Webster]

4. To practice indirect or evasive methods.
[ Webster]

All those schoolmen, though they were exceeding witty, yet better teach all their followers to shift, than to resolve by their distinctions. Sir W. Raleigh.
[ Webster]

5. (Naut.) To slip to one side of a ship, so as to destroy the equilibrum; -- said of ballast or cargo; as, the cargo shifted.
[ Webster]

Shift (?), n. [Cf. Icel. skipti. See , v. t.] 1. The act of shifting. Specifically: (a) The act of putting one thing in the place of another, or of changing the place of a thing; change; substitution.
[ Webster]

My going to Oxford was not merely for shift of air. Sir H. Wotton.
[ Webster]

(b) A turning from one thing to another; hence, an expedient tried in difficulty; often, an evasion; a trick; a fraud. “Reduced to pitiable shifts.” Macaulay.
[ Webster]

I 'll find a thousand shifts to get away. Shak.
[ Webster]

Little souls on little shifts rely. Dryden.
[ Webster]

2. Something frequently shifted; especially, a woman's under-garment; a chemise.
[ Webster]

3. The change of one set of workmen for another; hence, a spell, or turn, of work; also, a set of workmen who work in turn with other sets; as, a night shift.
[ Webster]

4. In building, the extent, or arrangement, of the overlapping of plank, brick, stones, etc., that are placed in courses so as to break joints.
[ Webster]

5. (Mining) A breaking off and dislocation of a seam; a fault.
[ Webster]

6. (Mus.) A change of the position of the hand on the finger board, in playing the violin.
[ Webster]

Coloq. To make shift , to contrive or manage in an exigency. “I shall make shift to go without him.” Shak.
[ Webster]
[They] made a shift to keep their own in Ireland. Milton.
[ Webster]

Shiftable (?), a. Admitting of being shifted.
[ Webster]

Shifter (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, shifts; one who plays tricks or practices artifice; a cozener.
[ Webster]

'T was such a shifter that, if truth were known,
Death was half glad when he had got him down. Milton.
[ Webster]

2. (Naut.) An assistant to the ship's cook in washing, steeping, and shifting the salt provisions.
[ Webster]

3. (Mach.) (a) An arrangement for shifting a belt sidewise from one pulley to another. (b) (Knitting Mach.) A wire for changing a loop from one needle to another, as in narrowing, etc.
[ Webster]

4. (construction, tunneling) A foreman responsible for the work on one shift in one area, as in one heading{4}.
[RH]

Shiftiness, n. The quality or state of being shifty.
[ Webster]

Diplomatic shiftiness and political versatility. J. A. Syminds.
[ Webster]

Shifting, a. 1. Changing in place, position, or direction; varying; variable; fickle; as, shifting winds; shifting opinions or principles.
[ Webster]

2. Adapted or used for shifting anything.
[ Webster]

Coloq. Shifting backstays (Naut.), temporary stays that have to be let go whenever the vessel tacks or jibes. -- Coloq. Shifting ballast , ballast which may be moved from one side of a vessel to another as safety requires. -- Coloq. Shifting center . See . -- Coloq. Shifting locomotive . See Switching engine, under .
[ Webster]

Shiftingly, adv. In a shifting manner.
[ Webster]

Shiftless, a. Destitute of expedients, or not using successful expedients; characterized by failure, especially by failure to provide for one's own support, through negligence or incapacity; hence, lazy; improvident; thriftless; as, a shiftless fellow; shiftless management. -- Shiftlessly, adv. -- Shiftlessness, n.
[ Webster]

Shifty (?), a. Full of, or ready with, shifts; fertile in expedients or contrivance. Wright.
[ Webster]

Shifty and thrifty as old Greek or modern Scot, there were few things he could not invent, and perhaps nothing he could not endure. C. Kingsley.
[ Webster]

{ Shiite (?), Shiah (?), } n. [Ar. shī'aīa follower of the sect of Ali, fr. shī'at, shī'ah, a multitude following one another in pursuit of the same object, the sect of Ali, fr. shā'a to follow.] A member of that branch of the Mohammedans to which the Persians belong. They reject the first three caliphs, and consider Ali as being the first and only rightful successor of Mohammed. They do not acknowledge the Sunna, or body of traditions respecting Mohammed, as any part of the law, and on these accounts are treated as heretics by the Sunnites, or orthodox Mohammedans.
[ Webster]

{ Shikaree, Shikari } (?) n. [Hind.] A sportsman; esp., a native hunter. [India]
[ Webster]

Shilf (?), n. [CF. G. shilf sedge.] Straw. [Obs.]
[ Webster]

Shill (?), v. t. To shell. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
[ Webster]

Shill, v. t. [Cf. .] To put under cover; to sheal. [Prov.ng.] Brockett.
[ Webster]

{ Shillalah, Shillelah } (?), n. An oaken sapling or cudgel; any cudgel; -- so called from Shillelagh, a place in Ireland of that name famous for its oaks. [Irish] [Written also shillaly, and shillely.]
[ Webster]

Shilling (?), n. [OE. shilling, schilling, AS. scilling; akin to D. schelling, OS. & OHG. scilling, G. schilling, Sw. & Dan. skilling, Icel. skillingr, Goth. skilliggs, and perh. to OHG. scellan to sound, G. schallen.] 1. A silver coin, and money of account, of Great Britain and its dependencies, equal to twelve pence, or the twentieth part of a pound, equivalent to about twenty-four cents of the United States currency.
[ Webster]

2. In the United States, a denomination of money, differing in value in different States. It is not now legally recognized.
[ Webster]

☞ Many of the States while colonies had issued bills of credit which had depreciated in different degrees in the different colonies. Thus, in New England currency (used also in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida), after the adoption of the decimal system, the pound in paper money was worth only $3.333, and the shilling 16� cts., or 6s. to $1; in New York currency (also in North Carolina, Ohio, and Michigan), the pound was worth $2.50, and the shilling 121/2 cts., or 8s. to $1; in Pennsylvania currency (also in New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland), the pound was worth $2.70, and the shilling 131/2 cts., or 7s. 6d. to $1; and in Georgia currency (also in South Carolina), the pound was worth $4.29�, and the shilling 21� cts., or 4s 8d. to $1. In many parts of the country . . . the reckoning by shillings and pence is not yet entirely abandoned. Am. Cyc.
[ Webster]

Prev Next

Concept Explore Home

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z