shrew meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

shrew

noun

/ʃɹuː/ · /ʃɹɪu̯/

Etymology From Middle English *schrewe, from Old English sċrēawa (“shrew”), from Proto-Germanic *skrawwaz (“thin; meagre; frail”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut; shorten; skimp”). Cognates include Old High German scrawaz (“dwarf”), Norwegian skrugg (“dwarf”).

Any of numerous small, mouselike, chiefly nocturnal, mammals of the family Soricidae.

Certain other small mammals that resemble true shrews.

Derogatory An ill-tempered, nagging woman: a scold.

The clerk had, I'm afraid, a shrew of a wife—shrill, vehement, and fluent. 'Rogue,' 'old miser,' 'old sneak,' and a great many worse names, she called him.1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
His wife was a shrew with warts on her face and she spoke to him sharply when others were present, but Simcha did not complain.1959, Mordecai Richler, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz:

1 more example

“Cease thy squalling, thou shrew!”1970, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 88:

Synonyms: 25 terms
ranny, soricid, battle axe, bitch, brim, brimstone, cat, cockatrice, crow, dragon, faggot, fishwife, harpy, harridan, hellcat, jade, nag, nudnik, scold, she-devil, shrew, termagant, virago, vixen, witch
Derived terms: 49 terms
armored shrew, Bendire's shrew, common shrew, elephant shrew, Elliot's short-tailed shrew, erd shrew, Etruscan shrew, hardishrew, hero shrew, Himalayan shrew, house shrew, Jesus shrew, jumping shrew, long-tailed shrew, marsh shrew, marsupial shrew, McCarthy's shrew, mole shrew, musk shrew, Nelson's small-eared shrew, northern tree shrew, ornate shrew, otter shrew, Pearson's long-clawed shrew, red-toothed shrew, rock shrew, Sado shrew, Saint Lawrence Island shrew, shrewd, shrewdom, shrew-faced squirrel, shrewish, shrewlike, shrewly, shrew mole, shrewmouse, shrew opossum, shrew possum, shrew-run, Sierra shrew, slender shrew, Tate's shrew rat, tree shrew, tree-shrew, treeshrew, true shrew, tule shrew, water shrew, West Indies shrew
Related terms: banshee, blowsabella, fury, hothead, hotspur, hoyden, spitfire
Hypernyms: complainer, jerk, woman
Hyponyms: common shrew, grimalkin, madam

shrew

verb

Etymology From Middle English schrewen (“to make evil; curse”), from Middle English schrewe, schrowe, screwe (“wicked; evil; an evil person”), from Old English *scrēawa (“wicked person”, literally “biter”). Perhaps ultimately from the same word as Etymology 1 above.

Obsolete To beshrew; to curse.

I shrew myself.1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story via the 'title' parameter)”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC: