Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SHRIV'ING, n.

Shrift; confession taken. [Obs.] – Spenser.

SHROFF, n.

In the East Indies, a banker.

SHROUD, n. [Sax. scrud, clothing.]

1. A shelter; a cover; that which covers, conceals or protects. Swaddled, as new born, in sable shrouds. – Sandys.
2. The dress of the dead; a winding sheet. – Young.
3. Shroud or shrouds of a ship, a range of large ropes extending from the head of a mast to the right and left sides of the ship, to support the mast; as, the main shrouds; fore shrouds; mizzen shrouds. There are also futtock shrouds, bowsprit shrouds, &c. – Mar. Dict.
4. A branch of a tree. [Not proper.] – Warton.

SHROUD, v.i.

To take shelter or harbor. If your stray attendants be yet lodg'd / Or shroud within these limits. – Milton.

SHROUD, v.t.

1. To cover; to shelter from danger or annoyance. Under your beams I will me safely shroud. – Spenser. One of these trees with all its young ones, may shroud four hundred horsemen. – Raleigh.
2. To dress for the grave; to cover; as a dead body. The ancient Egyptian mummies were shrouded in several folds of linen besmeared with gums. – Bacon.
3. To cover; to conceal; to hide; as, to be shrouded in darkness. Some tempest rise, / And blow out all the stars that light the skies, / To shroud my shame. – Dryden.
4. To defend; to protect by hiding. So Venus from prevailing Greeks did shroud / The hope of Rome, and sav'd him in a cloud. – Waller.
5. To overwhelm; as, to be shrouded in despair.
6. To lop the branches of a tree. [Unusual or improper.] – Chambers.

SHROUD'ED, pp.

Dressed; covered; concealed; sheltered; overwhelmed.

SHROUD'ING, ppr.

Dressing; covering; concealing; sheltering; overwhelming.

SHROUD'Y, a.

Affording shelter. – Milton.

SHROVE, v.i.

To join in the festivities of Shrove-tide. [Obs.] Beaum.

SHROVE'-TIDE, or SHROVE-TUES'DAY, n. [from shrove, pret. of shrive, to take a confession. See Tide and Tuesday.]

Confession-time; confession-Tuesday; the Tuesday after Quinquagesima Sunday, or the day immediately preceding the first of Lent, or Ash Wednesday; on which day, all the people of England when papists, where obliged to confess their sins one by one to their parish priests; after which they dined on pancakes or fritters. The latter practice still continues. The bell rung on this day is called pancake-bell. – Encyc.

SHROV'ING, n.

The festivity of Shrove-tide.

SHRUB, n.¹ [Sax. scrob, G. schroff, rugged; Ir. sgrabach, rough. See Scrub.]

A low dwarf tree; a woody plant of a size less than a tree; or more strictly, a plant with several permanent woody stems, dividing from the bottom, more slender and lower than in trees. – Encyc. Martyn. Gooseberries and currants are shrubs; oaks and cherries are trees. – Locke.

SHRUB, n.² [Ar. شُرْبٌ shurbon, drink, and from the same source, sirup. The Arabic verb signifies to drink, to imbibe, whence L. sorbeo. See Sherbet and Absorb.]

A liquor composed of acid and sugar, with spirit to preserve it: usually the acid of lemons.

SHRUB, v.t.

To clear of shrubs. – Anderson.

SHRUB'BER-Y, n.

1. Shrubs in general.
2. A plantation of shrubs.

SHRUB'BING, ppr.

Clearing of shrubs.

SHRUB'BY, a.

1. Full of shrubs; as, a shrubby plain.
2. Resembling a shrub; as, plants shrubby and curled. – Mortimer.
3. Consisting of shrubs or brush; as shrubby browze. – Philips.
4. A shrubby plant is perennial, with several woody stems. – Martyn.

SHRUB'LESS, a.

Having no shrubs.

SHRUFF, n. [G. schroff, rugged.]

Dross; recrement of metals. [Not in use.] – Dict.

SHRUG, n.

A drawing up of the shoulders; a motion usually expressing dislike. The Spaniards talk in dialogues / Of heads and shoulders, nods and shrugs. – Hudibras.

SHRUG, v.i.

To raise or draw up the shoulders, as in expressing horror or dissatisfaction. They grin, they shrug, / They bow, they snarl, they scratch, they hug. – Swift.

SHRUG, v.t. [This word is probably formed from the root of G. rücken, the back, D. rug, Sax. hric or hryg, the back, a ridge, W. crug, a heap, crwg, a crook, L. ruga, a wrinkle, Eng. rough.]

To draw up; to contract; to shrug the shoulders. The word seems to be limited in its use to the shoulders, and to denote a particular motion which raises the shoulders and rounds the back.

SHRUG'GING, ppr.

Drawing up, as the shoulders.

SHRUNK, v. [pret. and pp. of Shrink.]

SHRUNK'EN, pp.

of Shrink. [Nearly obsolete.]