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Definition of shed verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

shed

verb
 
/ʃed/
 
/ʃed/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they shed
 
/ʃed/
 
/ʃed/
he / she / it sheds
 
/ʃedz/
 
/ʃedz/
past simple shed
 
/ʃed/
 
/ʃed/
past participle shed
 
/ʃed/
 
/ʃed/
-ing form shedding
 
/ˈʃedɪŋ/
 
/ˈʃedɪŋ/
Idioms
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    get rid of

  1. shed something (often used in newspapers) to get rid of something that is no longer wanted
    • The factory is shedding a large number of jobs.
    • a quick way to shed unwanted pounds (= extra weight or fat on your body)
    • Museums have been trying hard to shed their stuffy image.
    Extra Examples
    • She was determined to shed some weight and get fit.
    • The firm is trying to shed its old-fashioned image.
    • Her mother had shed ten years since her marriage to Douglas.
  2. drop

  3. shed something (+ adv./prep.) (formal) to take off a piece of clothing
    • We shed our jackets.
    • Luke shed his clothes onto the floor.
  4. shed something (British English) (of a vehicle) to lose or drop what it is carrying
    • The traffic jam was caused by a lorry shedding its load.
    Topics Transport by car or lorryc2
  5. skin/leaves

  6. shed something if an animal sheds its skin, or a plant sheds leaves, it loses them naturally
    • How often does a snake shed its skin?
    • trees that shed their leaves in autumn
  7. light

  8. shed something (on/over somebody/something) to send light over something; to let light fall somewhere
    • The candles shed a soft glow on her face.
  9. tears

  10. shed tears (formal or literary) to cry
    • She shed no tears when she heard he was dead.
  11. blood

  12. shed blood (formal) to kill or injure people, especially in a war
    • How much blood will be shed before the fighting ends?
    see also bloodshed
  13. water

  14. shed something (formal) to have the quality of causing water or liquid to run off and not sink in
    • A duck's feathers shed water immediately.
  15. Word Originverb Old English sc(e)ādan ‘separate out (one selected group), divide’, also ‘scatter’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German scheiden. Compare with sheath.
Idioms
cast/shed/throw light on something
  1. to make a problem, etc. easier to understand
    • Recent research has shed new light on the causes of the disease.
See shed in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee shed in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
trait
noun
 
 
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