shirr
[shur]
- to draw up or gather (cloth or the like) on three or more parallel threads.
- to bake (eggs removed from the shell) in a shallow dish or in individual dishes.
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- Also shirr·ing. a shirred arrangement, as of cloth.
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Origin of shirr
First recorded in 1840–50; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for shirr
Historical Examples
Shirr some eggs, and before serving pour some tomato sauce, or pure, over the white of the eggs.
The Hotel St. Francis Cook BookVictor Hirtzler
Shirr, Shir, shėr, n. a puckering made in a fabric by parallel gathering-threads.
Shirr′ing, decorative-shirred needlework; Shirr′ing-string, a cord used to gather the threads together in shirred-work.
shirr
- to gather (fabric) into two or more parallel rows to decorate a dress, blouse, etc, often using elastic thread
- (tr) to bake (eggs) out of their shells
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- a series of gathered rows decorating a dress, blouse, etc
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Word Origin
C19: of unknown origin
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 shirr
v.
"to gather (cloth) on parallel threads," 1860 (implied in shirring), back-formation from shirred (1847), from shirr (n.) "elastic webbing," of unknown origin.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper