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:
But the best financial journalists in the game can’t always get every single shred of detail “in the room.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
Even if you don’t shred waves, being in the ocean can promote healing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 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
"There was not one shred of evidence that could be taken to court and get a conviction," he says.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Perhaps they knew she was the only ship in Kelanna with even a shred of hope of making it.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
Its final shreds of linen are the blank page between the old nation and the new.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
For the rest of us, it functions to preserve our last shreds of shared reality at a time of rapidly developing make-stuff-up machines.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 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
But start folding in coconut shreds, caramel swirls, candy pieces, cookie dough, marshmallows?
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2026
His T-shirt looked like it had been caught in an escalator and chewed to shreds.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
I tossed it with store-bought ravioli and shredded rotisserie chicken warmed in olive oil, put peas on the side, and waited for the part where I needed to fix something.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
The senior running back and veritable rock star shredded the San Diego State defense with three touchdown runs of 8, 7 and 36 yards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
The FDA said its epidemiological evidence and traceback continued to converge on Taylor Farms’ shredded iceberg, calling the evidence supporting the recall “overwhelming.”
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
Federal health officials have linked one outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce from a Mexican supplier for Taco Bell restaurants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
I’d prayed with people whose homes had been shredded by a tornado in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, huge swaths of the town turned to matchsticks in an instant.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
"Why do some supermassive black holes blast out radio jets right after shredding a star, while others just sit there looking completely dormant, only to suddenly fire up their jets months or even years later?"
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
Even Rodrigo’s backing band, full of absolutely shredding women instrumentalists, played beside her on equal footing for exquisitely tasteful, post-punky revisions of songs across her three albums.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
Getting rid of stuff is something we do nearly every week, through donating, trashing and shredding.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 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
She thought of him that day at the ice cream shop, shredding his paper wrapper.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
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.
