shrug
[shruhg]
- to raise and contract (the shoulders), expressing indifference, disdain, etc.
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- to raise and contract the shoulders.
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- the movement of raising and contracting the shoulders.
- a short sweater or jacket that ends above or at the waistline.
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- shrug off,
- to disregard; minimize: to shrug off an insult.
- to rid oneself of: to shrug off the effects of a drug.
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Origin of shrug
1350–1400; (v.) Middle English schruggen to shudder, shrug < ?; (noun) late Middle English shrugge a tug, pull, derivative of the v.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for shrug
Contemporary Examples
“The girls I used to race with would just pull their pants around their ankles and hang off the back,” Ralphie says with I shrug.
Mason ambles through life, free to enjoy the little moments and shrug off the big ones, just like his father did before him.
Around my own friends, someone will wind up a conversation with a shrug and a baffling—to me—utterance of “Haters gonna hate.”
Of course this gets at the heart of why some attacks on black Republicans inspire a shrug.
Yet, relative to the massive amount of attention, shock, and criticism, I can only muster a shrug and a plea to chill out.
Historical Examples
He returned with a shrug of the shoulders to his table in the morning-room.
VivietteWilliam J. Locke
The shoulders of Mr Verloc, without actually moving, suggested a shrug.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
"They are paying themselves for the mules and horses," said Fray Henriques with a shrug.
Fair MargaretH. Rider Haggard
"That you will find out," she said, with a shrug of her shoulders.
Fair MargaretH. Rider Haggard
A machine which makes a Frenchman shrug his shoulders with good reason.
The Devil's DictionaryAmbrose Bierce
shrug
- to draw up and drop (the shoulders) abruptly in a gesture expressing indifference, contempt, ignorance, etc
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- the gesture so made
- a woman's short jacket or close-fitting cardigan
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Word Origin
C14: of uncertain origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for shrug
v.
c.1400, schurgyng, of uncertain origin. Perhaps connected to Danish skrugge "to stoop, crouch." Related: Shrugged; shrugging. To shrug (something) off "dismiss" is recorded from 1909.
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n.
a shoulder motion meant to express indifference, want of an answer, etc., 1590s, from shrug (v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper