share
1 Americannoun
-
the full or proper portion or part allotted or belonging to or contributed or owed by an individual or group.
- Synonyms:
- lot, quota, assessment, ration, allocation, allotment
-
one of the equal fractional parts into which the capital stock of a joint-stock company or a corporation is divided.
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Digital Technology.
-
a digital file or document that can be accessed by specific users on a computer network, as for viewing, downloading, or making changes to it.
I just sent you a share—can you improve the second paragraph?
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an act of sharing online content with specific users on a computer network.
You can do a video share with friends and family.
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verb (used with object)
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shares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shared,
past participle, past
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sharing
present participle
-
to divide and distribute in shares; apportion.
- Synonyms:
- mete, dole (out), deal, parcel out, allot
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to use, participate in, enjoy, receive, etc., jointly.
The two chemists shared the Nobel Prize.
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Digital Technology. to give specific users access to (online content), as by posting it on a social media website or sending it as an email attachment: a shared spreadsheet.
to share photos on Instagram;
a shared spreadsheet.
verb (used without object)
-
shares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shared,
past participle, past
-
sharing
present participle
-
to have a share or part; take part (often followed byin ).
-
to divide, apportion, or receive equally.
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Digital Technology. to give specific users access to online content.
You can share via email, Facebook, or Twitter.
adjective
idioms
noun
noun
-
a part or portion of something owned, allotted to, or contributed by a person or group
-
(often plural) any of the equal parts, usually of low par value, into which the capital stock of a company is divided: ownership of shares carries the right to receive a proportion of the company's profits See also ordinary shares preference shares
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informal to share (something) with another or others
verb
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to divide or apportion, esp equally
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to receive or contribute a portion of
we can share the cost of the petrol
six people shared in the inheritance
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to join with another or others in the use of (something)
can I share your umbrella?
noun
Synonym Usage
Share, partake, participate mean to join with others or to receive in common with others. To share is to give or receive a part of something, or to enjoy or assume something in common: to share in another's experiences. To partake is to take for one's own personal use a portion of something: to partake of food. To participate is especially to join with others in some thought, feeling, or, particularly, some action: to participate in a race, in a conversation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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sharernoun
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half-sharedadjective
-
nonsharingadjective
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sharableadjective
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shareableadjective
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unsharableadjective
-
unshareableadjective
-
unsharedadjective
-
unsharingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sharesimple
-
sharessimple
-
have sharedperfect
-
has sharedperfect
-
am sharingprogressive
-
are sharingprogressive
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is sharingprogressive
-
have been sharingperfect progressive
-
has been sharingperfect progressive
Past
-
sharedsimple
-
had sharedperfect
-
was sharingprogressive
-
were sharingprogressive
-
had been sharingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of share1
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English noun shar(e), sharre “cutting, division,” Old English scearu “fork of the body, groin”; cognate with Dutch schaar, German Schar “troop”; see shear
Origin of share2
First recorded before 900; Middle English shar(e), sharre, Old English scear, scer; cognate with German Schar; see shear
Explanation
When you hungrily eye the pizzas your friends ordered, count everyone in the room, and then mentally divide the number of slices by the number of people, you're figuring out your share, or portion, of pizza. Your share of something can be the part of the total that's due to you — your share of the piñata candy — or it can be the section of something you're responsible for, like doing your share of cleaning out the garage. When you use share as a verb, it means to give or distribute a portion of something. The word share and its meaning of dividing into pieces come from the Proto-Indo-European word sker, "to cut."
Vocabulary lists containing share
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Business, List 2
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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.
See Examples For:
The bank's share of gold in London has increased from 18.1% to 32.1% after the move, while it still holds 30.8% of its reserves in the Netherlands.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
The share of gold held in London increased from 18.1 percent to 32.1 percent.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
One way to look at the importance of Social Security is simply as a share of aggregate income among individuals 65 and older.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
The company reported earnings of 38 cents a share for the quarter, beating analysts’ expectations of 37 cents a share.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
“I’m Lorren. And Stitches is Ingrid. We don’t use real names with strangers, because we’re not trying to die. But it’s getting weird if we don’t share first names.”
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
When her blooms start to reach the end of their peak, they’re ready to begin their next phase of “life” inside the 180-square-foot live-work studio Vidanska shares with her boyfriend.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
But shares could finally be primed to break out in a major way.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
LONGi shares last 2.2% lower at 11.80 yuan, while JA shares decline 2.6% to 6.85 yuan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
US-listed shares of Uber were up over 2.5% in midday trading.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
The word genocide shares its root with gene—and for good reason: the Nazis used the vocabulary of genes and genetics to launch, justify, and sustain their agenda.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
But another argued the photos are usually shared “to entertain,” not to protect the public.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
I loved that I shared my work, but I didn’t want it to be the thing that people knew me for at the moment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
“It was an incredible place to raise children,” she shared.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
"She will be remembered with great affection by the many members who knew her, ran alongside her and shared in her love of running," the club said.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Torak found his last roll of dried deer meat and shared it between the three of them.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
While there have been instances of helpful warnings coming from China, formal processes for sharing risk information and managing cross-border Himalayan disasters still don’t exist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
It was about sharing knowledge with anyone willing to listen — and looking for what exists beyond the sky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
An international tribunal ordered India on Monday to "observe its obligations" under a treaty with Pakistan on the sharing of the Indus and other rivers, which the New Delhi government sought to suspend.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
She is now an enthusiastic gardener, and one of thousands of young people sharing their green-fingered ways on social media.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
When it had a neatly starched, lace-edged cloth over it, I knew it was cooked food they were sharing with us.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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.
