shed Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an outbuilding with a single story; used for shelter or storage
  2. verb get rid of
    shake off; throw away; throw off; drop; cast off; cast; throw.
    • he shed his image as a pushy boss
    • shed your clothes
  3. verb pour out in drops or small quantities or as if in drops or small quantities
    pour forth; spill.
    • shed tears
    • spill blood
    • God shed His grace on Thee
  4. verb cause or allow (a solid substance) to flow or run out or over
    disgorge; spill.
    • spill the beans all over the table
  5. verb cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers
    moult; exuviate; molt; slough.
    • our dog sheds every Spring
  6. adjective shed at an early stage of development
    caducous.
    • most amphibians have caducous gills
    • the caducous calyx of a poppy

WordNet

Shed noun
Etymology
The same word as shade. See Shade.
Definitions
  1. A slight or temporary structure built to shade or shelter something; a structure usually open in front; an outbuilding; a hut; as, a wagon shed; a wood shed.
    The first Aletes born in lowly shed. Fairfax.
    Sheds of reeds which summer's heat repel. Sandys.
Shed transitive verb
Etymology
OE. scheden, schden, to pour, to part, AS. scadan, sceádan, to pert, to separate; akin to OS. skan, OFries. sktha, G. scheiden, OHG. sceidan, Goth. skaidan, and probably to Lith. skëdu I part, separate, L. scindere to cleave, to split, Gr. , Skr. chid, and perch. also to L. caedere to cut. Cf. Chisel, Concise, Schism, Sheading, Sheath, Shide.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Shed; present participle & verbal noun Shedding
Definitions
  1. To separate; to divide. Obs. or Prov.Eng. Robert of Brunne.
  2. To part with; to throw off or give forth from one's self; to emit; to diffuse; to cause to emanate or flow; to pour forth or out; to spill; as, the sun sheds light; she shed tears; the clouds shed rain.
    Did Romeo's hand shed Tybalt's blood? Shak.
    Twice seven consenting years have shed Their utmost bounty on thy head. Wordsworth.
  3. To let fall; to throw off, as a natural covering of hair, feathers, shell; to cast; as, fowls shed their feathers; serpents shed their skins; trees shed leaves.
  4. To cause to flow off without penetrating; as, a tight roof, or covering of oiled cloth, sheeds water.
  5. To sprinkle; to intersperse; to cover. R. "Her hair . . . is shed with gray." B. Jonson.
  6. (Weaving) To divide, as the warp threads, so as to form a shed, or passageway, for the shuttle.
Shed intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To fall in drops; to pour. Obs.
    Such a rain down from the welkin shadde. Chaucer.
  2. To let fall the parts, as seeds or fruit; to throw off a covering or envelope.
    White oats are apt to shed most as they lie, and black as they stand. Mortimer.
Shed noun
Definitions
  1. A parting; a separation; a division. Obs. or Prov.Eng.
    They say also that the manner of making the shed of newwedded wives' hair with the iron head of a javelin came up then likewise. Sir T. North.
  2. The act of shedding or spilling; -- used only in composition, as in bloodshed.
  3. That which parts, divides, or sheds; -- used in composition, as in watershed.
  4. (Weaving) The passageway between the threads of the warp through which the shuttle is thrown, having a sloping top and bottom made by raising and lowering the alternate threads.

Webster 1913