shred

[shred]

noun

1. a piece cut or torn off, especially in a narrow strip.

2. a bit; scrap.

   We haven't got a shred of evidence.

verb (used with object)

shredded, shred, shredding. 

1. to cut or tear into small pieces, especially small strips; reduce to shreds.

   I shred my credit card statement every month.

verb (used without object)

shredded, shred, shredding. 

1. to be cut up, torn, etc..

   The blouse had shredded in the wash.

2. Slang.,  to snowboard, skateboard, surf, or ski in a highly skilled or showily spectacular manner.

   I bought a new action camera that I can mount to my helmet—stay tuned for rad videos of me shredding when I hit the slopes next weekend.

3. Slang.,  to play guitar very quickly with specific picking techniques, as during an electric guitar solo.

   Fans in the mosh pit go wild when Eddie shreds on lead guitar.

shred

/ ʃrɛd /

noun

1. a long narrow strip or fragment torn or cut off

2. a very small piece or amount; scrap

verb

1. (tr) to tear or cut into shreds

Other Word Forms

• shredless adjective
• shredlike adjective
• unshredded adjective
• shredder noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of shred¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun shrede, schrede, shredd, Old English scrēade, scrēad “a cutting, a scrap”; cognate with Old Norse skrjōthr “worn-out book,” German Schrot “chips”; Middle English verb schreden “to chop, cut up,” Old English scrēadian “to pare, trim, prune (trees)”; akin to shroud; screed

Word History and Origins

Origin of shred¹

Old English scread; related to Old Norse skrjōthr torn-up book, Old High German scrōt cut-off piece; see _scroll , _shroud , _screed

Example Sentences

What none of these fools offered, however, was a single shred of evidence that young women are deliberately avoiding marriage, much less that Swift herself was somehow discouraging it.

From Salon

Expecting perhaps a 12-minute gunfight, it instead lasted only two as the actors’ discipline fell apart, and the SEALs cut them to shreds.

From Los Angeles Times

Chris Hemsworth is a health influencer in the same way that every celebrity with a shredded physique is a health influencer.

From Salon

It’s why Tino indulged every customer, both nasty and agreeable, while working his college summers as a bus boy and waiter at Bella Notte, the family restaurant in Pittsburgh known for its shredded pepperoni pizzas.

From Los Angeles Times

Encased in a flour tortilla is seasoned beef crumble, sharp shredded cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes and onion and ketchup, mustard and pickled relish.

From Salon

Related Words

• fragment 
• iota 
• modicum 
• ounce 
• sliver 
• smidgen 
• snippet 
• speck 
• whit