the definition of sharing

[shair]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR share ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the full or proper portion or part allotted or belonging to or contributed or owed by an individual or group.

one of the equal fractional parts into which the capital stock of a joint-stock company or a corporation is divided.

Digital Technology.

a digital file or document that can be accessed by specific users on a computer network, as for viewing, downloading, or making changes to it: I just sent you a share—can you improve the second paragraph?
an act of sharing online content with specific users on a computer network: You can do a video share with friends and family.

verb (used with object), shared, shar·ing.

to divide and distribute in shares; apportion.

to use, participate in, enjoy, receive, etc., jointly: The two chemists shared the Nobel prize.

Digital Technology. to give specific users access to (online content), as by posting it on a social media website or sending it as an email attachment: to share photos on Instagram; a shared spreadsheet.

verb (used without object), shared, shar·ing.

to have a share or part; take part (often followed by in).

to divide, apportion, or receive equally.

Digital Technology. to give specific users access to online content: You can share via email, Facebook, or Twitter.

adjective

Digital Technology. noting or relating to the practice of sharing online content with specific users on a computer network: Add a share button to your site.

Idioms

on/upon shares, on the principle of sharing the profits or losses of an undertaking: They agreed to work on shares.

Origin of share

1325–75; Middle English (noun) “cutting, division”; Old English scearu “fork of the body, groin”; cognate with Dutch schaar, German Schar “troop.” See shear

Related formsshar·a·ble, share·a·ble, adjectiveshar·er, nounhalf-shared, adjectivenon·shar·ing, adjective, nounun·shar·a·ble, adjectiveun·share·a·ble, adjectiveun·shared, adjectiveun·shar·ing, adjective

Synonyms for share

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR share ON THESAURUS.COM

1. allotment, allocation; contribution, assessment; quota, lot. 4. allot, parcel out, deal out, dole, mete.

Synonym study

7. Share, partake, participate mean to join with others or to receive in common with others. To share is to give or receive a part of something, or to enjoy or assume something in common: to share in another's experiences. To partake is to take for one's own personal use a portion of something: to partake of food. To participate is especially to join with others in some thought, feeling, or, particularly, some action: to participate in a race, in a conversation.

-sharing

Digital Technology. a combining form with the meaning “the practice of giving specific users access to digital documents or other online content”: filesharing software; a video-sharing website.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sharing

allocation, distribution, partition, participating, splitting, companionate

Examples from the Web for sharing

Contemporary Examples of sharing

A few years back, designer John Galliano was fined by the government for sharing just such anti-semitic sentiments in public.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead
Luke O’Neil
January 8, 2015
The rapid rise of the sharing economy is changing the way people around the world commute, shop, vacation, and borrow.
Why Do ‘Progressives’ Want to Ban Uber and AirBnB?
Adam Thierer, Christopher Koopman
December 30, 2014
With its growing ubiquity, there is no denying the influence of the sharing economy this holiday.
One of a Kind Gifts Are Only a Neighbor Away
Lawrence Ferber
December 8, 2014
The transportation service—and others like it—epitomize what the sharing economy is all about.
One of a Kind Gifts Are Only a Neighbor Away
Lawrence Ferber
December 8, 2014
When it comes to tangible gifts, the sharing economy really starts to flex its holiday disrupting muscle.
One of a Kind Gifts Are Only a Neighbor Away
Lawrence Ferber
December 8, 2014

Historical Examples of sharing

My sharing his compartment had evidently produced an unpleasant impression.
The Underdog
F. Hopkinson Smith
This is news to me, and I sit up, sharing Watty's astonishment.
The Fortune Hunter
Louis Joseph Vance
The little baby also languished, sharing its mother's depressed condition.
Hetty's Strange History
Anonymous
Cliff had made some discovery that he was not sharing with his partner.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, November, 1930
Various
Perhaps she's afraid of letting him out a little, of sharing him with somebody.
Alexander's Bridge and The Barrel Organ
Willa Cather and Alfred Noyes

British Dictionary definitions for sharing

noun

a part or portion of something owned, allotted to, or contributed by a person or group

(often plural) any of the equal parts, usually of low par value, into which the capital stock of a company is divided: ownership of shares carries the right to receive a proportion of the company's profitsSee also ordinary shares, preference shares

go shares informal to share (something) with another or others

verb

(tr often foll by out) to divide or apportion, esp equally

(when intr, often foll by in) to receive or contribute a portion ofwe can share the cost of the petrol; six people shared in the inheritance

to join with another or others in the use of (something)can I share your umbrella?

Derived Formssharable or shareable, adjectivesharer, noun

Word Origin for share

Old English scearu; related to Old Norse skor amount, Old High German scara crowd; see shear

noun

short for ploughshare

Word Origin for share

Old English scear; related to Old Norse skeri, Old High German scaro

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

Word Origin and History for sharing

n.1

"portion," Old English scearu "a cutting, shearing, tonsure; a part or division," related to sceran "to cut," from Proto-Germanic *skaro- (cf. Old High German scara "troop, share of forced labor," German Schar "troop, band," properly "a part of an army," Old Norse skör "rim"), from PIE root *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear).

Meaning "part of the capital of a joint stock company" is first attested c.1600. Share and share alike attested from 1560s. The same Old English noun in the sense "division" led to an obsolete noun share "fork ('division') of the body at the groin; pubic region" (late Old English and Middle English); hence share-bone "pubis" (early 15c.).

n.2

"iron blade of a plow," Old English scear, scær "plowshare," properly "that which cuts," from Proto-Germanic *skar- (cf. Old Frisian skere, Middle Low German schar, Old High German scar, German Schar, Dutch ploegschaar, Middle High German pfluocschar), from PIE root *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear).

1580s, "to apportion to someone as his share; to apportion out to others; to enjoy or suffer (something) with others," from share (n.1). Meaning "to divide one's own and give part to others" is recorded from 1590s. Meaning "confess one's sins openly" (1932, implied in sharing) is from "the language of Moral Rearmament" [OED]. Related: Shared; sharer; sharing.