Shred"dy (?), a. Consisting of shreds.
Shred"less, a. Having no shreds; without a shred.
And those which waved are shredless dust ere now.
Byron.
Shrew (?), a. [OE. shrewe, schrewe. Cf. Shrewd.] Wicked; malicious.
[Obs.] Chaucer.
Shrew, n. [See Shrew, a.] 1. Originally, a brawling, turbulent,
vexatious person of either sex, but now restricted in use to females; a
brawler; a scold.
A man . . . grudgeth that shrews [i. e., bad men] have prosperity,
or else that good men have adversity.
Chaucer.
A man had got a shrew to his wife, and there could be no quiet in
the house for her.
L'Estrange.
2. [AS. screáwa; -- so called because supposed to be venomous. ]
(Zoöl.) Any small insectivore of the genus Sorex and several allied
genera of the family Sorecidæ. In form and color they resemble mice,
but they have a longer and more pointed nose. Some of them are the
smallest of all mammals.
The common European species are the house shrew (Crocidura araneus),
and the erd shrew (Sorex vulgaris) (see under Erd.). In the United
States several species of Sorex and Blarina are common, as the
broadnosed shrew (S. platyrhinus), Cooper's shrew (S. Cooperi), and the
short-tailed, or mole, shrew (Blarina brevicauda). Th American water,
or marsh, shrew (Neosorex palustris), with fringed feet, is less
common. The common European water shrews are Crossopus fodiens, and the
oared shrew (see under Oared).
Earth shrew, any shrewlike burrowing animal of the family Centetidæ, as
the tendrac. -- Elephant shrew, Jumping shrew, Mole shrew. See under
Elephant, Jumping, etc. -- Musk shrew. See Desman. -- River shrew, an
aquatic West African insectivore (Potamogale velox) resembling a weasel
in form and size, but having a large flattened and crested tail adapted
for rapid swimming. It feeds on fishes. -- Shrew mole, a common large
North American mole (Scalops aquaticus). Its fine, soft fur is gray
with iridescent purple tints.
Shrew, v. t. [See Shrew, a., and cf. Beshrew.] To beshrew; to curse.
[Obs.] "I shrew myself." Chaucer.
Shrewd (?), a. [Compar. Shrewder (?); superl. Shrewdest.] [Originally
the p. p. of shrew, v.t.] 1. Inclining to shrew; disposing to curse or
scold; hence, vicious; malicious; evil; wicked; mischievous; vexatious;
rough; unfair; shrewish. [Obs.] Chaucer.
[Egypt] hath many shrewd havens, because of the great rocks that
ben strong and dangerous to pass by.
Sir J. Mandeville.
Every of this happy number That have endured shrewd days and nights
with us.
Shak.