Etymology From Middle English shy (“shy”), from Old English sċēoh (“shy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeuh (“shy, fearful”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“shy, fearful”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian skjou (“shy”), Dutch schuw (“shy”), German scheu (“shy”), Danish sky (“shy”).
1
Easily frightened; timid.
The horses of the army, and those of the royal stables, having been daily led before me, were no longer shy, but would come up to my very feet without starting.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, (please specify |part=I to IV):
2
Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach.
He is very shy with strangers.
VVhat makes you ſo ſhy of late, my good Friend? There's no Body loves you better than I, nor has taken more Pains in your Affairs: […]1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], “An Account of the Conference between Mrs. Bull and Don Diego Dismallo”, in John Bull in His Senses: Being the Second Part of Law is a Bottomless-Pit. […], Edinburgh: […] James Watson, […], →OCLC, page 25:
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Graham Norton: But the people coming up to you now, like the Americans, well, you know, the Americans, they're not shy, the Americans. / Maggie Smith: No. Well, no but I don't go anywhere where really they can get at me. It's usually in museums and art galleries and things, so that limits things. I keep away from there, and Harrod's I don't go near.2015 October 30, The Graham Norton Show, season 18, episode 6:
3
Cautious; wary; suspicious.
We grant, although he had much wit, / H' was very shy of using it; / As being loth to wear it out, / And therefore bore it not about,1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “. Canto I.”, in Hudibras, London; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:
Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of their successors.1641, Henry Wotton, The Characters of Robert Devereux and George Villiers:
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[…] I am very ſhy of building any thing of moment upon foundations that I eſteem ſo unſure, […]1661, Robert Boyle, “A Proemial Essay, wherein, with Some Considerations Touching Experimental Essays in General, is Interwoven such an Introduction to All Those Written by the Author, as is Necessary to be Perus’d for the Better Understanding of Them”, in Certain Physiological Essays and Other Tracts; […], 2nd edition, London: […] Henry Herringman […], published 1669, →OCLC, page 33:
By our count your shipment came up two shy of the bill of lading amount.
It is just shy of a mile from here to their house.
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The year I turned 26, as the head of my own brokerage firm, I made $49 million, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week.2013, Terence Winter, The Wolf of Wall Street, spoken by Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio):
United move seventh - still six points off a Champions League place and a massive 16 shy of the lead held by rivals Manchester City.2018 December 1, Tom Rostance, “Southampton 2 – 2 Manchester United”, in BBC Sport:
5
Government, PoliticsUK, US, Of a voter Less likely to reveal whom they will vote for than average, chiefly in the context of the collective effect this has on polling accuracy.
Etymology From Middle English shy (“shy”), from Old English sċēoh (“shy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeuh (“shy, fearful”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“shy, fearful”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian skjou (“shy”), Dutch schuw (“shy”), German scheu (“shy”), Danish sky (“shy”).
1
To avoid due to caution, embarrassment or timidness.
Courts might tend to shy from limiting Congress under such a vague standard.(page 172)
2
To jump back in fear.
The horse shied at the unexpected approach of a motor vehicle.
3
To throw sideways with a jerk; to fling.
to shy a stone
shy a slipper
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Then two or three boys laughed and sneered, and a big brutal fellow, who was standing in the middle of the room, picked up a slipper, and shied it at the kneeling boy, calling him a snivelling young shaver.1857, [Thomas Hughes], “How the Tide Turned”, in Tom Brown’s School Days. […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, part II, page 248:
"I was thinking, sir," I answered, "that I should like to shy the Diamond into the quicksand, and settle the question in that way."1868 January 4 – June 6, [William] Wilkie Collins, “First Period. The Loss of the Diamond (1848). […]”, in The Moonstone. A Romance. […], volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], published 1868, →OCLC, chapter VI, page 78:
4
Scotland To throw a ball with two hands above the head, especially when it has crossed the side lines in a football (soccer) match.
5
Scotland To hit the ball back into play from the sidelines in a shinty match.
Etymology From Middle English shy (“shy”), from Old English sċēoh (“shy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeuh (“shy, fearful”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“shy, fearful”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian skjou (“shy”), Dutch schuw (“shy”), German scheu (“shy”), Danish sky (“shy”).
Foker discharged a prodigious bouquet at her, and even Smirke made a feeble shy with a rose, and blushed dreadfully when it fell into the pit1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
If Lord Brougham gets a stone in his hand, he must, it seems, have a shy at somebody.1846, Punch, volume 10:
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The game had started. A man was chasing the ball, it went out for a shy.2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 55:
2
A place for throwing.
coconut shy
3
A sudden start aside, as by a horse.
4
In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the calx.
Scotland In shinty, the act of tossing the ball above the head and hitting it with the shaft of the caman to bring it back into play after it has been hit out of the field.