shrew

¹

[ shroo ]

noun

1. a woman of violent temper and speech; termagant.

   Synonyms: scold, nag, virago

shrew

²

[ shroo ]

noun

1. any of several small, mouselike insectivores of the genus Sorex and related genera, having a long, sharp snout.

shrew

/ ʃruː /

noun

1. See water shrew
   Also calledshrewmouse any small mouse-like long-snouted mammal, such as Sorex araneus ( common shrew ), of the family Soricidae: order Insectivora (insectivores) See also water shrew soricine
2. a bad-tempered or mean-spirited woman

Other Words From

• shrewlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shrew¹

1200–50; Middle English; special use of shrew ²

Origin of shrew²

before 900; Middle English (only in compounds), Old English scrēawa

Word History and Origins

Origin of shrew¹

Old English scrēawa; related to Old High German scrawaz dwarf, Icelandic skröggr old man, Norwegian skrugg dwarf

Example Sentences

For example, in the masked shrew, tail and leg length have increased significantly since 1950.

From Singularity Hub 

Since then, scientists have taken samples from thousands of animals, including shrews and lizards.

From FiveThirtyEight

Next were short-tailed shrews, with reddish teeth and venomous saliva.

From Popular-Science

That’s because all chicks are entirely dependent on the parents for food, and food, in this case, is usually a small rodent, like a vole or a shrew, that can’t be easily split.

From Science News

What gives tree shrews their drinking superpower, however, remains a mystery.

From Science News For Students

Read another way, she is a horrible mother, an uptight snob, and a bit of a shrew.

From The Daily Beast

All the parts for women are awful, and chauvinistic and they have to play a shrew.

From The Daily Beast

Her popularity is up, her guard is down, and her image as a shrew is a relic of the past.

From The Daily Beast

That's especially evident in the sequence with an elephant shrew in Africa.

From The Daily Beast

Saying this, the shrew pointed to a confused form, hidden under a long white veil that trailed on the floor.

From Project Gutenberg

Then, the masked shrew—for so we humans have named this escape from Lilliput—flashed out into the open.

From Project Gutenberg

This flexible muzzle he twisted here and there, sniffing uncertainly, for the shrew has but little sense of smell.

From Project Gutenberg

His head angled into a long whiskered snout, so pointed that from above the shrew looked like a big pen.

From Project Gutenberg

Confident in the fighting ability of his family, he had yet to learn that odds are nothing to a shrew.

From Project Gutenberg