shred
Americannoun
-
shreds
plural
-
a piece cut or torn off, especially in a narrow strip.
-
a bit; scrap.
We haven't got a shred of evidence.
verb (used with object)
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shreds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shredded,
past participle, past
-
shred,
past participle
-
shredding
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
shreds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shredded,
past participle, past
-
shred,
past participle
-
shredding
present participle
-
to be cut up, torn, etc..
The blouse had shredded in the wash.
-
Slang. to snowboard, skateboard, surf, or ski in a highly skilled or showily spectacular manner.
I bought a new action camera that I can mount to my helmet—stay tuned for rad videos of me shredding when I hit the slopes next weekend.
-
Slang. to play guitar very quickly with specific picking techniques, as during an electric guitar solo.
Fans in the mosh pit go wild when Eddie shreds on lead guitar.
noun
-
a long narrow strip or fragment torn or cut off
-
a very small piece or amount; scrap
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
shredsimple
-
shredssimple
-
have shredperfect
-
have shreddedperfect
-
has shredperfect
-
has shreddedperfect
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am shreddingprogressive
-
are shreddingprogressive
-
is shreddingprogressive
-
have been shreddingperfect progressive
-
has been shreddingperfect progressive
Past
-
shreddedsimple
-
had shredperfect
-
had shreddedperfect
-
was shreddingprogressive
-
were shreddingprogressive
-
had been shreddingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shred
First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun shrede, schrede, shredd, Old English scrēade, scrēad “a cutting, a scrap”; cognate with Old Norse skrjōthr “worn-out book,” German Schrot “chips”; Middle English verb schreden “to chop, cut up,” Old English scrēadian “to pare, trim, prune (trees)”; akin to shroud; cf. screed
Vocabulary lists containing shred
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:
Now comes Good Hang, the hit podcast that sends her straight into listeners’ ears without a shred of armor from a fictional character, just a voice that bounds from joyful to subversive to sincere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
"If they have even a shred of honour, the first thing they should do would be to stop the negotiations," he said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
But Michael Sanft, Davis’ defense lawyer, argued that the prosecution had no forensics, no eyewitness and not a single shred of physical evidence placing Davis in the Cadillac with the shooter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
"There was not one shred of evidence that could be taken to court and get a conviction," he says.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Moss wished he could tear that card out of his mental Rolodex and shred it to pieces.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
“I was always amazed at how she tore delicate shreds of meat from her catch and then so tenderly fed her chicks,” said Long Beach resident Erica Motamed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
I swirled a half-cup around the crust and dolloped it with fat shreds of fresh mozzarella and torn basil leaves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
"It's really sad, because the integrity of the markets is being torn to shreds."
From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026
Everybody’s scrambling to find any facts about the guy, finding out where he studied, what he said, and not finding out very much at all, really grasping at small shreds of detail.
From Slate ● Mar. 11, 2026
They revealed the shreds of their lives and hoped that relatives, or anyone who knew them, would hear the news and pass it on.
From "Tasting the Sky" by Ibtisam Barakat
Shares are notching gains in premarket trading, although the tumultuous past month has shredded nearly 30% of the chip giant’s market value.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2026
I love serving them over rice with whatever vegetables I have waiting in the freezer, perhaps some steamed edamame, corn and shredded cabbage.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
His father was a former Sergeant Major in the Parachute Regiment whose experience during the wartime evacuation of Dunkirk had shredded his mental health.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
“There is everything in the perfect bite,” Moore said of the vaunted marriage of ground beef, shredded cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and rich sour cream in a corn shell.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Nim’s beautiful island was shredded and messy with bits of hut, pieces of shirts and desk, coconuts, palm branches, broken trees, and lying-down bushes.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
Pushing it through the teeth of the City Hall grinder without the wholesale shredding of good intentions is a tougher trick.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2026
Getting rid of stuff is something we do nearly every week, through donating, trashing and shredding.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
His shredding effect on electric guitar and multi-tracking to thicken his instrument’s sound dominate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
These are ideal for anything that welcomes a little shredding or chopping: chicken salad, soups, dumplings, maybe a quick stovetop pasta.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026
She snatched up a copy of The Birds of North America, fluttered to the nearest branch, and began scratching through the pages so fast, Frank wasn’t sure if she was reading or shredding.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
