SHREW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shrew mean? 

• SHREW (noun)
  The noun SHREW has 2 senses:

1. a scolding nagging bad-tempered woman

2. small mouselike mammal with a long snout; related to moles

  Familiarity information: SHREW used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHREW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A scolding nagging bad-tempered woman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

shrew; termagant

Hypernyms ("shrew" is a kind of...):

disagreeable woman; unpleasant woman (a woman who is an unpleasant person)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shrew"):

virago (a noisy or scolding or domineering woman)

yenta ((Yiddish) a vulgar shrew; a shallow coarse termagant)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Small mouselike mammal with a long snout; related to moles

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

shrew; shrewmouse

Hypernyms ("shrew" is a kind of...):

insectivore (small insect-eating mainly nocturnal terrestrial or fossorial mammals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shrew"):

common shrew; Sorex araneus (common American shrew)

masked shrew; Sorex cinereus (commonest shrew of moist habitats in North America)

Blarina brevicauda; short-tailed shrew (North American shrew with tail less than half its body length)

water shrew (any of several small semiaquatic shrews usually living near swift-flowing streams)

Cryptotis parva; least shrew (small brown shrew of grassy regions of eastern United States)

Holonyms ("shrew" is a member of...):

family Soricidae; Soricidae (shrews)

 Context examples 

“By the three kings!” cried one, “here is an old dotard shrew to have so goodly a crutch! Use the leg that God hath given you, man, and do not bear so heavily upon the wench.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At a time when the majority of mammals were shrew- or mouse-sized—mere shadows of dinosaurs—Vintana was a super heavyweight, estimated to have had a body mass of about 20 pounds, two or three times the size of an adult groundhog today.

(Scientists discover fossil of bizarre groundhog-like mammal on Madagascar, NSF)