Shrew

//ʃɹuː// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of numerous small, mouselike, chiefly nocturnal, mammals of the family Soricidae.
  2. 2
    small mouselike mammal with a long snout; related to moles wordnet
  3. 3
    Certain other small mammals that resemble true shrews.
  4. 4
    a scolding nagging bad-tempered woman wordnet
  5. 5
    An ill-tempered, nagging woman: a scold. derogatory

    "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."

Verb
  1. 1
    To beshrew; to curse. obsolete, transitive

    "I shrew myself."

Synonyms

All synonyms
termagantamazonanimalantelopearmadillobanshee

Example

More examples

"The Etruscan shrew is the smallest mammal by weight. It only weighs 1.8 grammes."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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”).

Etymology 2

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.

Related phrases

Bendire's shrewElliot's short-tailed shrewEtruscan shrewHimalayan shrewJesus shrewMcCarthy's shrewNelson's small-eared shrewPearson's long-clawed shrewSado shrewSaint Lawrence Island shrewSierra shrewTate's shrew rat

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.