beshrew
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Etymology
Origin of beshrew
First recorded in 1275–1325, beshrew is from the Middle English word beshrewen. See be-, shrew 1
Explanation
To beshrew is to invoke a curse on someone. Horrified at discovering an empty baking pan, you might yell, "Beshrew all of you who ate my brownies!" The verb beshrew is so old fashioned that you're most likely to discover it in a play or poem by Shakespeare, who used it frequently. When the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet says, "Beshrew your heart for sending me about, to catch my death with jaunting up and down!", what she means is "Curse you for making me run around so much!" Beshrew comes from shrew, an animal believed to have a poisonous bite.
Vocabulary lists containing beshrew
"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 2
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"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 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.
Which I warrant none could effect so well as thee, wench," her father said; "for, beshrew me, if thou wouldst not make a man laugh on his way to the scaffold with thy mad talk.
From The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine by E. Rameur
"Now, beshrew me if thou art not the self-same young gentleman who gave me the cloak," he cried in grateful surprise.
From The Golden Galleon BEING A NARRATIVE OF THE ADVENTURES OF MASTER GILBERT OGLANDER, AND OF HOW, IN THE YEAR 1591, HE FOUGHT UNDER THE GALLANT SIR by Robert Leighton
"I have outwitted a whole household," he thought to himself; "beshrew me if I cannot tackle one man, even although it be Johnie Armstrong."
From Tales From Scottish Ballads by Allan Stewart
"But jest with you?" replied Bruin, "beshrew my heart then, for I am in that serious earnest, that for one lick thereat you shall make me the faithfullest of all your kindred."
From Children's Literature A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes by Erle Elsworth Clippinger
Chaucer has the verb shrew = to curse; the current verb is beshrew.
From Milton's Comus by William Bell
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
