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Shan

[shahn, shan]
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noun, plural Shans, (especially collectively) Shan.
  1. a group of Mongoloid tribes in the hills of Burma.
  2. a language spoken in the Shan States and belonging to the Tai group of languages.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for shan

Historical Examples

  • The other ladies of the Shan States were also beautifully dressed.

    From Edinburgh to India & Burmah

    William G. Burn Murdoch

  • Still, we do have fights sometimes, for these Shan guards are brave fellows.

    On the Irrawaddy

    G. A. Henty

  • "Anson Drake, I arrest you in the name of the Shan," he said.

    Heist Job on Thizar

    Gordon Randall Garrett

  • See the notices in the body of the work from the Shan Hai King.

    Mythical Monsters

    Charles Gould

  • Of course the ladies, like their Lolo and Shan sisters, do not bind their feet.

British Dictionary definitions for shan

Shan

noun
  1. plural Shans or Shan a member of a Mongoloid people living in Myanmar, Thailand, and SW China
  2. the language or group of dialects spoken by the Shan, belonging to the Sino-Tibetan family and closely related to Thai
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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