shred

[shred]

noun

1. a piece cut or torn off, especially in a narrow strip.

2. a bit; scrap.

   We haven't got a shred of evidence.

verb (used with object)

shredded, shred, shredding. 

1. to cut or tear into small pieces, especially small strips; reduce to shreds.

   I shred my credit card statement every month.

verb (used without object)

shredded, shred, shredding. 

1. to be cut up, torn, etc..

   The blouse had shredded in the wash.

2. Slang.,  to snowboard, skateboard, surf, or ski in a highly skilled or showily spectacular manner.

   I bought a new action camera that I can mount to my helmet—stay tuned for rad videos of me shredding when I hit the slopes next weekend.

3. Slang.,  to play guitar very quickly with specific picking techniques, as during an electric guitar solo.

   Fans in the mosh pit go wild when Eddie shreds on lead guitar.

shred

/ ʃrɛd /

noun

1. a long narrow strip or fragment torn or cut off

2. a very small piece or amount; scrap

verb

1. (tr) to tear or cut into shreds

Other Word Forms

• shredless adjective
• shredlike adjective
• unshredded adjective
• shredder noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of shred¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun shrede, schrede, shredd, Old English scrēade, scrēad “a cutting, a scrap”; cognate with Old Norse skrjōthr “worn-out book,” German Schrot “chips”; Middle English verb schreden “to chop, cut up,” Old English scrēadian “to pare, trim, prune (trees)”; akin to shroud; screed

Word History and Origins

Origin of shred¹

Old English scread; related to Old Norse skrjōthr torn-up book, Old High German scrōt cut-off piece; see _scroll , _shroud , _screed

Example Sentences

Not as someone with a shred of sympathy, or as a dogged and scrupulous seeker of truth and justice.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Hegseth said the military must be a place where there are “no fug-ups, no fatties, no facial hair, no body hair. Just hot shredded hairless men who are definitely not gay!”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“This is shredding it. This is tearing it apart.”

Read more on Salon

“Right now, our founding ideals and values are being shredded before our eyes in Washington D.C., and California will not sit idle,” Newsom said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The Eagles had torn the visitors to shreds for 34 minutes, with somehow only an Ismaila Sarr goal to show for their superiority, when the club's famous section of support delivered their verdict.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• fragment 
• iota 
• modicum 
• ounce 
• sliver 
• smidgen 
• snippet 
• speck 
• whit