Shrovetide
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What is Shrovetide? Shrovetide is the three-day period before the beginning of Lent, which is the season of fasting and penitence that precedes Easter. Shrovetide consists of Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday and is the most well-known of the days of Shrovetide due to the tradition of eating pancakes on that day. Shrove Tuesday is sometimes called Pancake Day for this reason.
Etymology
Origin of Shrovetide
First recorded in 1375–1425, Shrovetide is from the late Middle English word shroftyde. See shrove, tide 1
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.
On his 100th birthday, he was chosen to "turn up" the ball at a centuries-old sports event, the Royal Shrovetide Football.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2022
Ashbourne is more famous for Shrovetide football - its own chaotic and brutal form of the beautiful game - than international soccer.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2016
Shrovetide: Beauty in Eye of Beholder The beautiful game was, and is not always, beautiful.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2013
The Shrovetide game, a mass exhibition of pushing and shoving, is a form of organized chaos that evolved into today’s modern codes: soccer, American football, rugby, Australian rules football and Gaelic football.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2013
In 1872, unfortunately, the bell was stolen, and Wreay lost this relic, which had been connected for 217 years with its Shrovetide festivities.
From Bygone Cumberland and Westmorland by Scott, Daniel
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.
