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

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

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

“Right now, our founding ideals and values are being shredded before our eyes in Washington D.C., and California will not sit idle,” Newsom said.

From Los Angeles Times

The Eagles had torn the visitors to shreds for 34 minutes, with somehow only an Ismaila Sarr goal to show for their superiority, when the club's famous section of support delivered their verdict.

From BBC

One morning last year, John Gladwin opened the cupboard under his kitchen sink and discovered a bag of soil he'd been storing there was torn to shreds.

From BBC

Humankind might have gone mad, but the show’s focus on the shredding of civil society charts some welcome sanity.

From Los Angeles Times

Carr’s interference and threats mark the latest escalation of the administration using government power to curtail free speech as we know it — and shred the 1st Amendment.

From Salon

Related Words

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