Shrovetide
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What is Shrovetide? Shrovetide is the three-day period before the beginning of Lent, which is the season of fasting and penitence that precedes Easter. Shrovetide consists of Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday and is the most well-known of the days of Shrovetide due to the tradition of eating pancakes on that day. Shrove Tuesday is sometimes called Pancake Day for this reason.
Etymology
Origin of Shrovetide
First recorded in 1375–1425, Shrovetide is from the late Middle English word shroftyde. See shrove, tide 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The last Royal Shrovetide Football match, involving thousands of players competing to move a ball to opposite ends of the town, took place just before the pandemic took hold, in 2020.
From BBC • Mar. 1, 2022
Ashbourne is more famous for Shrovetide football - its own chaotic and brutal form of the beautiful game - than international soccer.
From BBC • Jun. 3, 2016
An outspoken cleric known for his liberal views calls it a "legal outrage" during Shrovetide week, when church tradition allows and even encourages carnival-like escapades and jokes.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 18, 2012
“I’m a devoted Arsenal fan, but on this day I’ll be more devoted to Shrovetide, which is where the game that will be played in Spain comes from.”
From New York Times • Mar. 7, 2011
Only now she vividly recalled all those terrible nights, particularly one Shrovetide night.
From The Awakening The Resurrection by Tolstoy, Leo, graf
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
