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• shed
  shed

  noun

  a simple or rude structure built for shelter, storage, etc.
• she'd
  she'd

  contraction of she had.

shed

¹ American  

[shed] / ʃɛd /

noun

1. a simple or rude structure built for shelter, storage, etc.

2. a large, strongly built structure, often open at the sides or end.

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shed ² American  

[shed] / ʃɛd /

verb (used with object)

• sheds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shed,
  past participle,  past
• shedding
  present participle

1. to emit and let fall, as tears.

   When someone arrived to rescue us, I shed tears of joy and gratitude.

2. to impart or release; give or send forth (light, sound, fragrance, influence, etc.).

   A full moon was shedding its light on the little town as they entered it.

   Synonyms:

   effuse, radiate, emit

3. to resist being penetrated or affected by.

   The jacket is treated with a durable water-repellent finish to shed light precipitation.

   Synonyms:

   repel

4. to cast off or let fall (leaves, hair, feathers, skin, shell, etc.) by natural process.

   A healthy, growing snake will shed its skin about once a month.

5. to get rid of or release oneself from.

   First, we must shed our illusions about what rural life is supposed to be like.

   I find that I go through phases where I shed some of my friendships.

6. to pour forth (water or other liquid), as a fountain or river.

   All of these rivers eventually shed their waters into the Luapula River.

7. Textiles. to separate (the warp) in forming a shed.

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verb (used without object)

• sheds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• shed,
  past participle,  past
• shedding
  present participle

1. to cast off hair, feathers, skin, or other covering or parts by natural process.

   All dogs shed, and need some grooming to brush out loose hair.

   Synonyms:

   slough, molt

2. to fall off, as leaves.

   Leaves that are severely infected by this disease will shed prematurely.

3. to drop out, as hair, seed, grain, etc..

   My hair began shedding during the first month after I started taking the medication.

   The seeds of this plant shed soon after the pod opens, so they’re hard to find.

noun

1. Textiles. (on a loom) a triangular, transverse opening created between raised and lowered warp threads through which the shuttle passes in depositing the loose thread that will become the weft.

idioms

1. shed blood,

   1. to cause blood to flow.

   2. to kill by violence; slaughter.

she'd ³ American  

[sheed] / ʃid /

1. contraction of she had.

2. contraction of she would.

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shed ¹ British  

/ ʃɛd /

verb

1. to pour forth or cause to pour forth

   to shed tears

   shed blood

2. to clarify or supply additional information about

3. to cast off or lose

   the snake shed its skin

   trees shed their leaves

4. (of a lorry) to drop (its load) on the road by accident

5. to abolish or get rid of (jobs, workers, etc)

6. to repel

   this coat sheds water

7. (also intr) (in weaving) to form an opening between (the warp threads) in order to permit the passage of the shuttle

8. dialect (tr) to make a parting in (the hair)

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noun

1. (in weaving) the space made by shedding

2. short for watershed

3. a parting in the hair

shed ² British  

/ ʃɛd /

noun

1. a small building or lean-to of light construction, used for storage, shelter, etc

2. a large roofed structure, esp one with open sides, used for storage, repairing locomotives, sheepshearing, etc

3. a large retail outlet in the style of a warehouse

4. another name for freezing works

5. at work

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verb

1. (tr) to store (hay or wool) in a shed

shed ³ British  

/ ʃɛd /

verb

1. (tr) to separate or divide off (some farm animals) from the remainder of a group

   a good dog can shed his sheep in a matter of minutes

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noun

1. (of a dog) the action of separating farm animals

shed ⁴ British  

/ ʃɛd /

noun

1. physics a former unit of nuclear cross section equal to 10 ^–52 square metre

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she'd ⁵ British  

/ ʃiːd /

contraction

1. she had or she would

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Usage

See contraction.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• shedding
  noun
• nonshedding
  adjective
• shedable
  adjective
• sheddable
  adjective
• shedlike
  adjective
• unshedding
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• shedding
  present
• shed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• shed
  simple
• sheds
  simple
• have shed
  perfect
• has shed
  perfect
• am shedding
  progressive
• are shedding
  progressive
• is shedding
  progressive
• have been shedding
  perfect progressive
• has been shedding
  perfect progressive

Past

• shed
  simple
• had shed
  perfect
• was shedding
  progressive
• were shedding
  progressive
• had been shedding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will shed
  simple
• will have shed
  perfect
• will be shedding
  progressive
• will have been shedding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of shed¹

First recorded in 1475–85; variant of shade

Origin of shed²

First recorded before 950; Middle English verb shed(d)en, shed, Old English scēadan, scādan; cognate with German scheiden “to separate, divide”

Explanation

The small, simple building in your yard where you keep tools or gardening equipment is a shed. As a noun, shed means "hut," and probably comes from the word shade. But shed is also a verb meaning "to cast off," like when a snake sheds its skin. If your couch is covered in fur, it might be because your dog is shedding. You can shed non-physical things, like a bad habit. Does your cat shed? If so, maybe I should sleep in the shed since I'm allergic.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shed she'd sheds shedding

Wesley Fofana shed tears, faced criticism for laughing at the wrong moment and exposed racist abuse last season - but now he believes stability will lead to an "amazing" Chelsea future.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

“The holy grail of prediction markets, they shed light on some of the most consequential, decentralized and human processes in the world, where good data is crucial and hard to find.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Constellation Energy is down 21% year to date, Vistra is down 10% and NRG Energy NRG 0.74%increase; up pointing triangle has shed 25%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

The model could also shed light on some puzzling observations from the James Webb Space Telescope.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

But of course that made it all the more difficult to spot a likely barn or shed where we could lie up for the day.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo

In the beginning of 2025, Taylor Olin had decided she’d seen enough of Echo Park and decided to relocate to a cozy ranch up in Altadena.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Lyndsay Smith, Aston's mum, said she'd never seen the estate so busy, with neighbours treating her son like a "local celebrity" and asking for autographs.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Driving home from the set in Burbank, she’d often take side streets back to her house in Eagle Rock, getting lost in music and her environment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

A couple of days later, Grande’s team announced that she’d be taking a break from “public-facing work” following the conclusion of her Eternal Sunshine Tour in September.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026

Ragginold continued, “Soon after that, she abandoned you near the human road. You stayed there for the rest of your short life, probably hoping she’d come back. But she never did.”

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Takaichi has also accelerated a beefing up of Japan's military capabilities as its sheds its strict pacifist stance in place since the war.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

The actress said this experience and the media coverage surrounding it sheds light on a pervasive issue within the animal welfare and rescue industry: shelter overcrowding brought on by the pandemic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

“In our view, this sheds some light on the group’s inflow target of A$18 billion-A$20 billion for FY27,” Jefferies says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

A builder who can balance items like sheds, ladders and bicycles on his chin is hoping to break a world record.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

It picked up sheds and wagons, horses and men.

From "I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919" by Lauren Tarshis

Boeing has focused on its core jet-making businesses as part of an ongoing turnaround, and it’s been shedding some of its more ancillary units in recent months.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

There was a surprise shedding of 23,000 jobs last month, with declines driven by cuts in local government education and retail roles, despite analysts predicting growth.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Figures on Wednesday showed hiring in the US private sector was significantly below expectations in July, with industries like leisure and hospitality shedding jobs.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

To the looksmaxxers, these peptides aren’t about health; they’re for shedding fat, building muscle, clearing up skin, and even getting tanned.

From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026

You slip out of your own skin, like molting, shedding your own history and your own future, leaving behind everything you ever were or wanted or believed in.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

Related Words

• discard
• drop
• jettison
• scrap
• take off
• yield