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shirr

American  
[shur] / ʃɜr /

verb (used with object)

  • shirrs,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • shirred,
    past participle,  past
  • shirring
    present participle
  1. to draw up or gather (cloth or the like) on three or more parallel threads.

  2. to bake (eggs removed from the shell) in a shallow dish or in individual dishes.


noun

  1. Also shirring. a shirred arrangement, as of cloth.

shirr British  
/ ʃɜː /

verb

  1. to gather (fabric) into two or more parallel rows to decorate a dress, blouse, etc, often using elastic thread

  2. (tr) to bake (eggs) out of their shells

"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

noun

  1. a series of gathered rows decorating a dress, blouse, etc

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future


Etymology

Origin of shirr

First recorded in 1840–50; origin uncertain


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.

See Examples For:

Truth be told, it’s probably a combination of all these things that sent me on my quest to shirr up my breakfast routine.

From Slate ● Feb. 15, 2018

The way they shirr that calico arrangement around their back door, has long been my admiration.”

From Patty's Summer Days by Carolyn Wells

The veil was secured to the hood by a simple shirr string of elastic.

From The Motor Girls by Margaret Penrose

It is too nestle by the pin grove shirr, all agree to the counting ate ate pall.

From Geography and Plays by Gertrude Stein

Shirred Eggs.—To shirr an egg break it into a saucer or any small dish that has been well greased.

From Health on the Farm A Manual of Rural Sanitation and Hygiene by H. F. (Henry Fauntleroy) Harris

Tea was to be bought there, and sugar, tobacco, and pickles, jam, nails, boots, hats, flannel shirrs, and mole-skin trowsers.

From Harry Heathcote of Gangoil by Anthony Trollope

Kramer performs mostly seated on a chair, her hair pearly and glowing, the skin of her bare arms like shirred silk.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 5, 2022

Her white maxidress by Chloé incorporated subtle but deft detailing such as a shirred turtleneck, cape sleeves and colorful stones dotting the panel softly framing her torso.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2019

Not only did I order the shirred eggs for breakfast both mornings, but I loved them so much I made them again for myself when I returned home.

From Slate ● Feb. 15, 2018

Ms. Pissarro wore an Isabel Marant black shirred cocktail dress; Mr. Rivkin was in Ralph Lauren.

From New York Times ● Jun. 24, 2017

The paper birds shuffled and shirred and gathered.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill

There was a lot of shirring and Breton stripes.

From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2021

I pulled out a red dress with side shirring and lots of stretch.

From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2013

Not to mention cap sleeves, shirring, scalloped edges and a lot of stuff a romantic six-year-old would favor, including aprons and petticoats.

From Time Magazine Archive

Fashion's permutations and combinations have fascinated the frivolous and the furrow-browed; the shirring of a sleeve or the fall of a hemline has borne the burden of some heavy-duty thinking.

From Time Magazine Archive

The shirring in Hennessy’s lips tightened, and he drew his breath in and out in a sort of asthmatic whistle.

From Leerie by Ruth Sawyer

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