shred

[shred]

noun

1. a piece cut or torn off, especially in a narrow strip.

2. a bit; scrap.

   We haven't got a shred of evidence.

verb (used with object)

shredded, shred, shredding. 

1. to cut or tear into small pieces, especially small strips; reduce to shreds.

   I shred my credit card statement every month.

verb (used without object)

shredded, shred, shredding. 

1. to be cut up, torn, etc..

   The blouse had shredded in the wash.

2. 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.

3. 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.

shred

/ ʃrɛd /

noun

1. a long narrow strip or fragment torn or cut off

2. a very small piece or amount; scrap

verb

1. (tr) to tear or cut into shreds

Other Word Forms

• shredless adjective
• shredlike adjective
• unshredded adjective
• shredder noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of shred¹

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; screed

Word History and Origins

Origin of shred¹

Old English scread; related to Old Norse skrjōthr torn-up book, Old High German scrōt cut-off piece; see _scroll , _shroud , _screed

Example Sentences

Just after thumbing through a copy, he immediately tries to shred the entire document.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The latter was “dancing with his shirt off and he’s all shredded,” Hudson mused.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Superheated air leaped outward in a thundering explosion, shredding the walls of the reactor building and sending a cloud of white smoke and debris billowing into the air.

Read more on Literature

There were cheers for the policeman on stage in a fat suit doing pelvic thrusts, and the woman in a leotard and tights shredding a portrait of Vladimir Putin.

Read more on BBC

When other administration officials fell silent, Cheney continued to make the connections even though no shred of proof was ever found.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fragment 
• iota 
• modicum 
• ounce 
• sliver 
• smidgen 
• snippet 
• speck 
• whit