shred
Americannoun
-
shreds
plural
-
a piece cut or torn off, especially in a narrow strip.
-
a bit; scrap.
We haven't got a shred of evidence.
verb (used with object)
-
shreds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shredded,
past participle, past
-
shred,
past participle
-
shredding
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
shreds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shredded,
past participle, past
-
shred,
past participle
-
shredding
present participle
-
to be cut up, torn, etc..
The blouse had shredded in the wash.
-
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.
-
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.
noun
-
a long narrow strip or fragment torn or cut off
-
a very small piece or amount; scrap
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shredsimple
-
shredssimple
-
have shredperfect
-
have shreddedperfect
-
has shredperfect
-
has shreddedperfect
-
am shreddingprogressive
-
are shreddingprogressive
-
is shreddingprogressive
-
have been shreddingperfect progressive
-
has been shreddingperfect progressive
Past
-
shreddedsimple
-
had shredperfect
-
had shreddedperfect
-
was shreddingprogressive
-
were shreddingprogressive
-
had been shreddingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shred
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; cf. screed
Vocabulary lists containing shred
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:
From the opening minute, Belgium absolutely dominated the Americans and squelched every shred of optimism the U.S. had generated among fans about their promising start to the tournament.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
“You would think that a human being with a shred of dignity would recoil from this thing,” Oswalt said.
From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026
"The boxing world knows my character, and Saturday night proved that without a shred of doubt," Wardley said on Sky Sports.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
Then he does something worse: He allows his guilt to shred his integrity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
Perhaps they knew she was the only ship in Kelanna with even a shred of hope of making it.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
“I was always amazed at how she tore delicate shreds of meat from her catch and then so tenderly fed her chicks,” said Long Beach resident Erica Motamed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Apparently, when it comes to shreds and zest, I possess the object permanence of a baby.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
I swirled a half-cup around the crust and dolloped it with fat shreds of fresh mozzarella and torn basil leaves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
It was the longest journey any English team had ever made for a Champions League knockout game, but there was no sign of fatigue as Newcastle ripped Qarabag to shreds.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
Big, scorched shreds of our shirts came away with the soot.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
In July, FDA traceback and epidemiological evidence linked shredded iceberg lettuce produced by Taylor Farms to a major Cyclospora outbreak.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
The salmonella outbreak overlaps with the nation’s largest-ever cyclospora outbreak, tied to shredded iceberg lettuce, that has sickened thousands of people over the past several weeks.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
Federal health officials last month linked a multistate outbreak to Taylor Farms’ shredded iceberg lettuce, which was sold at retailers including Taco Bell.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that shredded lettuce served at Taco Bell in five states was the source of more than 1,600 cyclosporiasis infections.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Mr. Caton sorrowfully inspected the casement piece, running his fingers along the shredded ends.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
Start by shredding your rotisserie chicken into the bag.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
Meta shares have fallen some 25%, shredding around $500 billion in market value, since their heady apex of nearly $800 a share in August of last year.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
It was an off-speed pitch first derived from the forkball that hadn’t been popular since the age of the Walkman—and its reputation for shredding elbows had given it a stigma.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
Although the United States imports most of its primary aluminum, the country has a well developed network for shredding vehicles and recovering aluminum scrap.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 10, 2026
Chipper had, after all, eaten the family Bible the winter before, chewed right through it from Genesis to Revelation, shredding generations of inscribed Hickams in the process.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
