Shad (shd), n. sing. & pl. [AS. sceadda a kind of fish, akin to Prov.
G. schade; cf. Ir. & Gael. sgadan a herring, W. ysgadan herrings; all
perhaps akin to E. skate a fish.] (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of
food fishes of the Herring family. The American species (Clupea
sapidissima), which is abundant on the Atlantic coast and ascends the
larger rivers in spring to spawn, is an important market fish. The
European allice shad, or alose (C. alosa), and the twaite shad. (C.
finta), are less important species. [Written also chad.]
The name is loosely applied, also, to several other fishes, as the
gizzard shad (see under Gizzard), called also mud shad, white-eyed
shad, and winter shad.
Hardboaded, or Yellow-tailed, shad, the menhaden. -- Hickory, or
Tailor, shad, the mattowacca. -- Long-boned shad, one of several
species of important food fishes of the Bermudas and the West Indies,
of the genus Gerres. -- Shad bush (Bot.), a name given to the North
American shrubs or small trees of the rosaceous genus Amelanchier (A.
Canadensis, and A. alnifolia) Their white racemose blossoms open in
April or May, when the shad appear, and the edible berries (pomes)
ripen in June or July, whence they are called Juneberries. The plant is
also called service tree, and Juneberry. -- Shad frog, an American
spotted frog (Rana halecina); - - so called because it usually appears
at the time when the shad begin to run in the rivers. -- Trout shad,
the squeteague. -- White shad, the common shad.
Shad"bird` (shd"brd), n. (Zoöl.) (a) The American, or Wilson's, snipe.
See under Snipe. So called because it appears at the same time as the
shad. (b) The common European sandpiper. [Prov. Eng.]
Shadd (shd), n. (Mining.) Rounded stones containing tin ore, lying at
the surface of the ground, and indicating a vein. Raymond.
Shad"de (?), obs. imp. of Shed. Chaucer.
Shad"dock (?), n. [Said to be so called from a Captain Shaddock, who
first brought this fruit from the East Indies.] (Bot.) A tree (Citrus
decumana) and its fruit, which is a large species of orange; -- called
also forbidden fruit, and pompelmous.
Shade (shd), n. [OE. shade, shadewe, schadewe, AS. sceadu, scead; akin
to OS. skado, D. schaduw, OHG. scato, (gen. scatewes), G. schatten,
Goth. skadus, Ir. & Gael. sgath, and probably to Gr. sko`tos darkness.
√162. Cf. Shadow, Shed a hat.] 1. Comparative obscurity owing to
interception or interruption of the rays of light; partial darkness
caused by the intervention of something between the space contemplated
and the source of light.
Shade differs from shadow as it implies no particular form or definite
limit; whereas a shadow represents in form the object which intercepts
the light. When we speak of the shade of a tree, we have no reference
to its form; but when we speak of measuring a pyramid or other object
by its shadow, we have reference to its form and extent.