shred
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to cut or tear something into many long, thin pieces.
v.to reduce a material to long, narrow strips by cutting or tearing; often used with a direct object.
Simple“You should shred the lettuce before adding it to the taco.”
In context“The office manager insisted that all sensitive documents be shredded immediately to comply with the new data protection regulations.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
v.to play a musical instrument, especially a guitar, very fast and with great skill.
v.to perform a solo or passage on a musical instrument with extreme speed and technical proficiency, typically in rock or metal genres.
Simple“The lead guitarist started to shred during the final song of the concert.”
In context“He spent years practicing scales just so he could shred with the same fluid intensity as his heavy metal idols.”
- 03 C1 Advanced
v.to ride a snowboard, surfboard, or skateboard very fast and aggressively.
v.to navigate a surface such as snow or water with high speed and technical aggression on a board.
Simple“We spent the whole weekend shredding the fresh snow on the mountain.”
In context“The local surfers headed out at dawn to shred the massive waves brought in by the overnight storm.”
- 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a very small piece or a tiny amount of something, like a feeling or evidence.
n.a fragment or a minute quantity; frequently used in negative constructions to emphasize a total lack of something.
Simple“There wasn't a shred of evidence to prove that he had taken the money.”
In context“Despite the harsh criticism, she didn't show a single shred of doubt regarding her team's ability to finish the project on time.”
- 05 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a long, thin piece that has been cut or torn off from something larger.
n.a long, narrow strip of material, typically fabric or paper, resulting from tearing or cutting.
Simple“The cat tore the curtains into shreds with its claws.”
In context“The explosion reduced the ceremonial banners to colorful shreds that littered the courtyard.”
“I had been torn to shreds, absolutely torn to shreds." Her baby was taken when he was three weeks old, a week before Christmas.”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.