shred
v.v. to cut or tear something into very small, thin pieces. You might do this to paper you want to destroy or to cheese for a pizza.
v. to tear, cut, or break something into small, narrow strips or fragments. Often used in culinary contexts or regarding document destruction.
Please shred the confidential documents before you leave.
The recipe says to shred the cabbage finely before adding it to the salad bowl.
In the world of heavy metal, to shred involves playing extremely fast and technically demanding guitar solos, often featuring rapid scales and sweep picking.
From Middle English shrede, shred (“fragment, piece, scrap; piece cut off from something; strip of material; ornamental strip hanging from the edge of a garment; thread; band or thread woven in a garment; element, streak; plant (?)”) [and other forms], from Late Old English sċrēad, sċrēade (“piece cut off from something; a paring; a shred”), from Proto-Germanic skraudō (“a piece, shred; a crack; a cut”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker- (“to cut off”). Doublet of escrow.
The verb is derived from Middle English shreden, shred (“to chop, cut up; to cut, hack; to wound with a knife; to cut off a part of (something); to prune, trim”) [and other forms], from Old English sċrēadian (“to cut up, shred; to cut off; to prune, trim”), from Proto-West Germanic skraudōn, related to Proto-West Germanic skraudan (“to cut up; to shred”), from Proto-Germanic skraudaną (“to cut up; to shred”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker- (“to cut off”). The adjective is derived from the past participle form of the verb.
The verb is transitive and requires a direct object.
I shreded the paperI shredded the paperThe final 'd' must be doubled when adding the past tense suffix '-ed'.