shoulder
- 01 A2 Elementary
n.the part of your body where your arm joins your neck and trunk.
n.the joint or area of the body between the base of the neck and the upper arm.
Simple“He carried the heavy bag over his left shoulder to keep his hands free.”
In context“The athlete suffered a minor dislocation of the shoulder during the final minutes of the championship match.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the edge of a road where cars can stop in an emergency.
n.the emergency area or paved strip alongside a main road or highway.
Simple“If your car breaks down, pull over onto the shoulder and call for help.”
In context“The driver was forced to park on the narrow shoulder of the motorway while waiting for the recovery vehicle to arrive.”
- 03 C1 Advanced
n.a part of an object that looks like a shoulder, such as the top of a bottle.
n.a transitional part of an object between a narrower section and a wider body, such as on a bottle or a musical instrument.
Simple“The label was stuck right on the shoulder of the wine bottle.”
In context“The luthier carefully inspected the shoulder of the violin for any hairline fractures in the wood grain.”
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to accept a difficult job or responsibility.
v.to take on or accept a burden, duty, or financial obligation.
Simple“As the manager, she had to shoulder the blame for the team's mistake.”
In context“The young CEO had to shoulder the immense pressure of saving the company from bankruptcy during the economic downturn.”
- 05 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to push someone or something out of the way using your shoulders.
v.to push or jostle someone or something using physical force from the shoulders.
Simple“He had to shoulder his way through the crowded station to catch the train.”
In context“The protesters tried to shoulder their way past the security cordon to reach the entrance of the building.”
From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sculdra, sculdor (“shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic skuldru (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cognate with Old Frisian skuldere (“shoulder”) (West Frisian skouder (“shoulder”)), Middle Low German scholder (“shoulder”), Low German Schuller, Schulder (“shoulder”), Dutch schouder (“shoulder”), German Schulter (“shoulder”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.