shoulder
UK /ˈʃəʊldə/ · US /ˈʃoʊldɚ/ noun, verb
Forms shoulders shouldering shouldered shouder
- noun The part of the human torso forming a relatively horizontal surface running away from the neck. “The parrot was sitting on Steve's shoulder.”
- noun (anatomy) The joint between the arm and the torso, sometimes including the surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
- noun A cut of meat comprising the upper joint of the foreleg and the surrounding muscle.
- noun The portion of a garment where the shoulder is clothed.
- noun Anything forming a shape resembling a human shoulder.
- noun A usually unsealed strip of land bordering a road, where vehicles can drive or park in an emergency. “He stopped the car on the shoulder of the highway to change the flat tire.”
- noun The portion of a hill or mountain just below the peak.
- noun A lateral protrusion of a hill or mountain.
- verb (transitive) To push (a person or thing) using one's shoulder.
- verb (transitive, by extension) To bully, manipulate or pull rank on (somebody). “He shouldered me out of my own band.”
- verb (transitive) To put (something) on one's shoulders.
- verb (transitive) To place (something) against one's shoulders.
- verb (transitive, figuratively) To bear a burden, as a financial obligation.
- verb (transitive, figuratively) To accept responsibility for. “shoulder the blame”
- verb (transitive) To form a shape resembling a shoulder.
- verb (intransitive) To move by or as if by using one's shoulders.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sċuldra, sċuldor (“shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuldru (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cognate with Old Frisian skuldere (“shoulder”) (West Frisian skouder (“shoulder”)), Middle Low German scholder (“shoulder”), Low German Schuller, Schulder (“shoulder”), Dutch schouder (“shoulder”), German Schulter (“shoulder”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The joint, or the region of the joint, by which the fore limb is connected with the body or with the shoulder girdle; the projection formed by the bones and muscles about that joint.
- noun The flesh and muscles connected with the shoulder joint; the upper part of the back; that part of the human frame on which it is most easy to carry a heavy burden; --often used in the plural.
- verb To push or thrust with the shoulder; to push with violence; to jostle.
- verb To take upon the shoulder or shoulders; as, to shoulder a basket; hence, to assume the burden or responsibility of; as, to shoulder blame; to shoulder a debt.
Etymology [OE. shulder, shuldre, schutder, AS. sculdor; akin to D. schoulder, G. schulter, OHG. scultarra, Dan. skulder, Sw. skuldra.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “shoulder”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details