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• shaw
  shaw

  noun

  a small wood or thicket.
• Shaw
  Shaw

  noun

  Anna Howard, 1847–1919, U.S. physician, reformer, and suffragist, born in England.

shaw

¹ American  

[shaw] / ʃɔ /

noun

• shaws
  plural

1. Midland U.S. a small wood or thicket.

2. Scot. the stalks and leaves of potatoes, turnips, and other cultivated root plants.

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Shaw ² American  

[shaw] / ʃɔ /

noun

1. Anna Howard, 1847–1919, U.S. physician, reformer, and suffragist, born in England.

2. Artie Arthur Arshawsky, 1910–2004, U.S. clarinetist and bandleader.

3. George Bernard, 1856–1950, Irish dramatist, critic, and novelist: Nobel Prize 1925.

4. Henry Wheeler. Billings, Josh.

5. Irwin, 1913–84, U.S. dramatist and author.

6. Richard Norman, 1831–1912, English architect, born in Scotland.

7. Thomas Edward. Lawrence, Thomas Edward.

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Shaw ¹ British  

/ ʃɔː /

noun

1. Artie, original name Arthur Arshawsky. 1910–2004, US jazz clarinetist, band leader, and composer

2. George Bernard, often known as GBS. 1856–1950, Irish dramatist and critic, in England from 1876. He was an active socialist and became a member of the Fabian Society but his major works are effective as satiric attacks rather than political tracts. These include Arms and the Man (1894), Candida (1894), Man and Superman (1903), Major Barbara (1905), Pygmalion (1913), Back to Methuselah (1921), and St Joan (1923): Nobel prize for literature 1925

3. Richard Norman. 1831–1912, English architect

4. Thomas Edward. the name assumed by (T. E.) Lawrence after 1927

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shaw ² British  

/ ʃɔː /

verb

1. to show

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noun

1. a show

2. the part of a potato plant that is above ground

shaw ³ British  

/ ʃɔː /

noun

1. archaic a small wood; thicket; copse

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• shaws
  plural

Etymology

Origin of shaw

before 900; Middle English shawe, Old English sceaga, scaga; akin to shag ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shaw Shaw shaws

“You can see why luke shaw got a call from his old gaffer.”

From The Guardian ● Sep. 17, 2015

Shaquille O'Neal, who played for the Cavs last season, posted on Twitter: "I think brian shaw should get interviewed for that cleveland cavaliers job, he's really good."

From Washington Post ● Jun. 7, 2010

I don't want 't gener'lly know I ever shaw him before.

From Frank Merriwell's Backers The Pride of His Friends by Burt L. Standish

"The rose blooms gay on shairney brae, As weel's in birken shaw; And love will lowe in cottage low, As weel's in lofty ha'."

From The Proverbs of Scotland by Alexander Hislop

Ne'er shaw your teeth unless ye can bite.

From The Proverbs of Scotland by Alexander Hislop

Shaw & Co. in the 1990s, and began dating in 2001.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Created by Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw, the series follows five 20-something housemates in Queens as they navigate the pleasures and perils of early adulthood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026

Created by Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw, “Adults” relies in part on having an attractive ensemble of performers with great timing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Gabrielle Shaw, chief executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said this was a "significant and welcome" apology, but it must lead to "meaningful change".

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

“They are still passing before me,” Shaw remembered her saying.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

General Cultivation.—As soon as the shaws appear the ground should be hoed between the rows, and if there is any fear of frost the shaws should be lightly moulded over.

From The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers From Seeds and Roots 16th Edition by Sutton and Sons

When shaws beene sheene, and shradds full fayre, And leaves both large and longe, Itt is merrye walkyng in the fayre forrest To heare the small birdes songe.

From The Book of Old English Ballads by Hamilton Wright Mabie

"It shaws me ye can bribe; but I'm no to be bribit."

From David Balfour, Second Part Being Memoirs Of His Adventures At Home And Abroad, The Second Part: In Which Are Set Forth His Misfortunes Anent The Appin Murder; His Troubles With Lord Advocate Grant; Captivity On The Bass Rock; Journey Into Holland And France; And Singular Relations With James More Drummond Or Macgregor, A Son Of The Notorious Rob Roy, And His Daughter Catriona by Robert Louis Stevenson

Said Roger: "Did they not tell thee of a hermit new come to these shaws?"

From The Well at the World's End: a tale by William Morris

‘A man that uses fields an’ shaws after dark as much as I’ve done, he don’t go out of his road excep’ for keepers.’

From Puck of Pook’s Hill by Arthur Rackham