What does "share" mean?
A portion of something, especially a portion given or allotted to someone.
Share
/ʃɛə/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A portion of something, especially a portion given or allotted to someone.
- Grammar: share is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: part, portion, adjunct, airdrop.
- Useful contrasts: siloed, unshared, a single.
- Usage evidence: His father would never sanction his engagement to a girl who did not share the same religious beliefs as their family.
How to use "share"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "share" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "share" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "share" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "share" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "share" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "part" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "share", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A portion of something, especially a portion given or allotted to someone.
"Each of the robbers took a share of the loot."
- 2 The cutting blade of an agricultural machine like a plough, a cultivator or a seeding-machine.
"The golden harvest, of a mellow brown, Upturn'd so lately by the fearful share."
- 3 the effort contributed by a person in bringing about a result wordnet
- 4 A financial instrument that shows that one owns a part of a company that provides the benefit of limited liability.
- 5 the allotment of some amount by dividing something wordnet
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 A configuration enabling a resource to be shared over a network.
"Upload media from the browser or directly to the file share."
- 7 a sharp steel wedge that cuts loose the top layer of soil wordnet
- 8 The action of sharing something with other people via social media.
"Social media is supervisual, and there's nothing more shareable than images, so this is a way to increase shares and likes and follows."
- 9 assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group wordnet
- 10 The sharebone or pubis.
"1606: translation by Philemon Holland of Suetonius, De vita Cæsarum [Domitian 17] — [H]ee stabbed him beneth in the very share neere unto his privie parts."
- 11 any of the equal portions into which the capital stock of a corporation is divided and ownership of which is evidenced by a stock certificate wordnet
Verb
- 1 To give part of what one has to somebody else to use or consume.
- 2 To cut; to shear; to cleave; to divide. obsolete, transitive
"The shar'd visage hangs on equal sides."
- 3 communicate wordnet
- 4 To have or use in common.
"to share a shelter with another"
- 5 give out as one's portion or share wordnet
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 To divide and distribute.
"[S]uppose I ſhare my Fortune equally between my own Children, and a Stranger whom I take into my Protection; will that be a Method to unite them?"
- 7 have, give, or receive a share of wordnet
- 8 To tell to another.
"He shared his story with the press."
- 9 use jointly or in common wordnet
- 10 To allow public or private sharing of resources in a network, or content on social media.
"to share a folder, a screen"
- 11 have in common wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"His father would never sanction his engagement to a girl who did not share the same religious beliefs as their family."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "share"?
Common synonyms include: part, portion, adjunct, airdrop, airdrops, allocate.
How do you use "share" in a sentence?
His father would never sanction his engagement to a girl who did not share the same religious beliefs as their family.
How do you pronounce "share"?
Pronounced /ʃɛə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English schare, schere, from Old English sċearu (“a cutting, shaving, a shearing, tonsure, part, division, share”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaru, from Proto-Germanic *skarō (“a division, detachment”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut, divide”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian skar, sker (“a share in a communal pasture”), Dutch schare (“share in property”), German Schar (“band, troop, party, company”), Icelandic skor (“department”). Compare shard, shear. Doublet of eschel.
Etymology 2
From Middle English share, schare, shaar, from Old English sċear, sċær (“ploughshare”), from Proto-Germanic *skaraz (“ploughshare”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Cognate with Dutch schaar (“ploughshare”), dialectal German Schar (“ploughshare”), Danish (plov)skær (“ploughshare”). More at shear.
Etymology 3
* As an English surname, perhaps a variant of Shear. * As a Serbo-Croatian surname, Americanized from Šare, Sare.