shred
Americannoun
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a piece cut or torn off, especially in a narrow strip.
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a bit; scrap.
We haven't got a shred of evidence.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to be cut up, torn, etc..
The blouse had shredded in the wash.
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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.
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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
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a long narrow strip or fragment torn or cut off
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a very small piece or amount; scrap
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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shredsimple
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shredssimple
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have shredperfect
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have shreddedperfect
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has shredperfect
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has shreddedperfect
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am shreddingprogressive
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are shreddingprogressive
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is shreddingprogressive
-
have been shreddingperfect progressive
-
has been shreddingperfect progressive
Past
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shreddedsimple
-
had shredperfect
-
had shreddedperfect
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was shreddingprogressive
-
were shreddingprogressive
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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.
A former accountant from Paisley nicknamed Fred the Shred, Goodwin was headhunted to RBS to help build the biggest bank in the world.
From BBC • Jul. 31, 2025
Shred chicken into bite sized pieces, discarding skin and bones.
From Salon • Feb. 27, 2025
Jones now runs the skateboard company he founded, Spread the Shred.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2022
But any chance she gets, Kris Nordberg, 65, also known as Sister Shred, will do exactly that, in spite of a rare vascular condition that has rendered her legally blind.
From New York Times • Feb. 23, 2022
Geoff Graham invited him to play guitar when his band, Shred, appeared at Café Hombre on Wednesday nights when no one was there.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
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.
