beshrew

[ bih-shroo ]

/ bɪˈʃru /

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verb (used with object) Archaic.

to curse; invoke evil upon.

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Origin of beshrew

First recorded in 1275–1325, beshrew is from the Middle English word beshrewen.See be-, shrew¹

Words nearby beshrew

Beseleel, beset, set in one's ways, be, besetting, beshow, beshrew, Besht, beside, beside oneself, besides, beside the point

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use beshrew in a sentence

Beshrew me, if my wife and thee could not make exchange of some portion of her spirit and thy meekness to the advantage of both.
Constance Sherwood|Lady Georgiana Fullerton
But listen now: I have weightier matters; I have eggs on the spit, beshrew me else!
Judith Shakespeare|William Black
Get me some drink George, I am almost molten with fretting: now beshrew his Knaves heart for it.
Beaumont & Fletcher's Works (6 of 10): The Queen of Corinth;|Francis Beaumont
Beshrew me, there be plenty of that trade in London, and chiefly the feeble folk that he hath driven from our stage.
Judith Shakespeare|William Black

"Beshrew me, but I think thou art distraught already," answered the Queen.
Kenilworth|Sir Walter Scott

British Dictionary definitions for beshrew

beshrew

/ (bɪˈʃruː) /

verb

(tr) archaic to wish evil on; curse (used in mild oaths such as beshrew me)

Word Origin for beshrew

C14: see be-, shrew

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012