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)
-
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:
From the opening minute, Belgium absolutely dominated the Americans and squelched every shred of optimism the U.S. had generated among fans about their promising start to the tournament.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
He told MSPs: "If Mr Findlay had a shred of decency about him, he would express his respect for the judicial system in Scotland."
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
Then he does something worse: He allows his guilt to shred his integrity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
This vise—wanting to keep her job, but also any remaining shred of her anti-war credibility—has been reflected in her statements since Kent’s departure.
From Slate ● Mar. 21, 2026
We pulled—me just pretending because every shred of strength had deserted me—and the boys in the water pushed from below until the net tipped into the boat, full of wriggling fish.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
I’ll occasionally pull out the bag to snack on a few shreds of meat in between meals.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
The departure of Ohtani for zero prospects, zero young stars, nobody … seriously damaged the remaining shreds of trust between their many loyal fans and the team.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 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
There wasn’t no time to stare into that hole in the sky like Captain Cat and her cannibal crew, or all our sails would be torn to shreds and the masts snapped in two.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
The food-safety issues have included the nation’s largest-ever cyclospora outbreak, which was linked to shredded iceberg lettuce.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Food and Drug Administration has linked one cyclospora outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce sourced in Central Mexico by Taylor Farms, the country’s largest supplier of salad greens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Lawson marries frozen peas and shredded Little Gem lettuce in her version of petits pois à la française, or French-style peas.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Last week, the company announced it was voluntarily recalling various products including chopped lettuce, shredded lettuce, blends of iceberg, romaine lettuce and salad mixes that were supplied to restaurants and retailers in 27 states.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Some have layers of sweetened, toasted shredded wheat.
From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye
Start by shredding your rotisserie chicken into the bag.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
The finding may explain why we can build upon skills, like going from plucking single notes on a guitar to shredding rock riffs, or from dribbling a ball to making cross-court plays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Although the United States imports most of its primary aluminum, the country has a well developed network for shredding vehicles and recovering aluminum scrap.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 10, 2026
That's because Brookes is a snowboarder's snowboarder, a "purist's dream", who takes far more joy in shredding on a powder day than competing on the world stage.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026
Onofre Martinez had as good a reason as any man for shredding parking tickets.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
