Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
SHEEPFOLD — SHIPBOARD
SHEEPFOLD, n. [sheep and fold.] A place where sheep are collected or confined.
SHEEPHOOK, n. [sheep and hook.] A hook fastened fastened to a pole, by which shepherds lay hold holsd on hte legs of their sheep.
SHEEPISH, a.
1. Like a sheep; bashfus; timorous to excess; over-modest; meanly diffident.
2. Pertaining to sheep.
SHEEPISHLY, adv. Bashfully; with mean timidity or diffidence.
SHEEPISHNESS, n. Bashfulness; excessive modesty or diffidence; mean timorousness.
SHEEP-MARKET, n. A place where sheep are sold.
SHEEP-MASTER, n. [sheep and master.] A feeder of sheep; one that has the care of sheep.
SHEEP’S-EYE, n. [sheep and eye.] A modest diffident look, such as lovers casst at their mistresses.
SHEEP-SHANK, n. [sheep and shank.] Among seamen, a knot in a rope make to shorten it, as on a runner or a tie.
SHEEP’S-HEAD, n. [sheep and head.] A fish caught on the shores of Connecticut and of Long Island, so called from the resemblance of its head to that of a sheep. It is esteemed delicious food.
SHEEP-SHEARER, n. [sheep and shear.] One that shears or cuts off the wool from sheep.
SHEEP-SHEARING, n.
1. The act of shearing sheep.
2. The time of shearing sheep; also, a feast make on that occasion.
SHEEPSKIN, n. The skin of a sheep; or the lether prepared from it.
SHEEP-STEALER, n. [sheep and steal.] One that steals sheep.
SHEEP-STEALING, n. the act of stealing sheep.
SHEEP-WALK, n. [sheep and walk.] Pasture for sheep; a place where sheep feed.
SHEER, a.
1. Pure; clear; separate from anything foreign; unmingled; as sheer ale. But this application is unusual. We say sheer argument, sheer wit, sheer falsehook, etc.
2. Clear; thin; as sheer muslin.
SHEER, adv. Clean; quite; at once. Obs.
SHEER, v.t. To sheer. [Not in use.]
SHEER, v.i. [See Shear, the sense of which is to separate.]
1. In seamen’s language, to decline or deviate from the line of the proper course, as a ship when not steered with steadiness.
2. To slip or move aside.
To sheer off, to turn or move aside to a distance.
To sheer up, to turn and approach to a place or ship.
SHEER, n.
1. The longitudinal curve or bend of a ship’s deck or sides.
2. The position in which a ship is sometimes kept at single anchor, to keep her clear of it.
To break sheer, to deviate from that position and fisk fouling the anchor.
SHEER-HULK, n. An old ship of war, fitted with sheers of apparatus to fix or take out the masts of other ships.
SHEERLY, adv. At once; quite; absolutely. Obs.
SHEERS, n. plu. An engine consisting of two or more pieces of timber or poses, fastened together near the top; used for raising heavy weights, particularly for hoisting the lower masts of ships.
SHEET, n. [L. schenda; Gr. The Greek and Latin words signify a table or plate for writing on; L. scindo, Gr.]
1. A broad piece of cloth used as part of bed-furniture.
2. A broad piece of paper as it comes from the manufacturer. Sheets of paper are of different sizes, as royal, demi, foolscap, pot and post-paper.
3. A piece of paper printed, folede and bound, or formed in to a book in blank, and making four, eight, sixteen or twenty-four pages, etc.
4. Any thing expanded; as a sheet of water or of fire; a sheet of copper, lead or iron.
5. Sheets, plu. a book or pamphlet. The following sheets contains a full answer to my opponent.
6. A sail.
SHEET, n. In nautical language, a rope fastened to one or both the lower corners of a sail to extend and retain it in a particular situation. When a ship sails with a side-wind, the lower corners of the main and fore-sails are fastened with a tackand a sheet.
SHEET, v.t.
1. To furnish with sheets. [Little used.]
2. To fold in a sheet. [Little used.]
3. To cover as with a sheet; to cover with something broad and thin.
When snow the pasture sheets. Shak.
To sheet home, is to haul home a sheet, or extend the sail till the clew is close to the sheet-block.
SHEET-ANCHOR, n.
1. The largest anchor of a ship, which in stress of wheather is sometimes the seaman’s last refuge to prevent the ship from going ashore. Hence,
2. The chief support; the last refuge for safety.
SHEET-COPPER, n. Copper in broad thin plates.
SHEETING, n. Cloth for sheets.
SHEET-IRON, n. Iron in sheets or broad thin plates.
SHEET-LEAD, n. Lead in sheets.
SHEIK, n. In Egypt, a person who has the care of a mosk; a kind of priest.
SHEKEL, n. [Heb. to way; Low L. siclus.] An ancient weight and coin among the Jews and other nations of the same stock. Dr. Arbuthnot makes the weight to have been equal to 9 pennyweights, 2 4/7 grains, Troy weight, and the value of 2s. 3 3/8d. sterling, or about half a dollar. Others make its value 2s. 6d. sterling. The golden shekel was worht 1. 16. 6. pounds sterling, about $8, 12.
SHELDAFLE, SHELDAPLE, n. A chaffinch. This word is also written shell-apple.
SHELDRAKE, n. An aquatic fowl of the duck kind, the Anas tadorna. It has a greenish black head, and its body is variegated with white.
SHELDUCK, n. A species of wild duck.
SHELF, n. plu. shelves.
1. A platform of boards or planks, elevated above the floor, and fixed and set on a frame or contiguous to a wall, for holding vessels, utensils, books and the like.
2. A sand bank in the sea, or a rock or ledge of rocks, rendering the water shallow and dangerous to ships.
3. In mining, fast ground; the part of the internal structure of the earth which lies in an even regular form.
SHELFY, a.
1. Full if shelves; abounding with with sand bank or rocks lying near the surface of the water and rendering navigation dangerous; as a shelfy coast.
2. Hard; firm. [See Shelf, No. 3.] [Not in use.]
SHELL, n.
1. The hard and stony covering of certain fruits and of certain animals; as the shell of a nut; the shell of an oyster or lobster. the shells of animals are crustaceous or testaceous; crustaceous as that of the lobster, and testaceous as that of the oyster and clam.
2. The outer coat of an egg.
3. The outer part of a house unfinished. We say of a building that wants the interior timbers or finishing, that it is a mere shell.
4. An instrument of music, like testudo in Latin; the first lyre being make, it is said, by drawing strings over a tortoise shell.
5. Oute ror superficial part; as the shell of religion.
6. A bomb.
Fossil shells, dug up from the earth.
SHELL, v.t.
1. To strip or break off the shell; or to take out of the shell; as, to shell nuts or almonds.
2. To separate from the ear; as, to shell maiz.
SHELL, v.i.
1. To fall off, as a shell, crust or exterior coat.
2. To cast the shell or exterior covering. Nuts shell in falling.
3. To be disengaged from the husk; as, wheat or rye shells in reaping.
SHELLED, pp. Deprived of the shell; also, separated from the ear; as, shelled corn or maiz.
SHELL-FISH, n. An aquatic animal whose covering consists of a shell, crustaceous or testaceous; as lobsters, crabs, oysters, clams, etc.
SHELLING, ppr.
1. Taking off the shell; casting the external hard covering; separating from hte husk and falling.
2. Separating from the ear, as maiz.
SHELL-MEAT, n. Food consisting of shell fish.
SHELL-WORK, Work composed of shells, or adorned with them.
SHELLY, a.
1. Abounding with shells; as the shelly shore.
2. Consisting of shells. Lobsters disengage themselves from their shelly prisons.
SHELTER, n. [L. celo.]
1. That which covers or defends from injury or annoyance. A house is a shelter from rain and other inclemencies of the weather; the foliage of a tree is a shelter from the rays of the sun.
The healing plant shall aid,
From storms a shelter, and from heat a shade. Pope.
2. The state of being covered and protected; protection; security.
Who into shelter takes their tender bloom. Young.
3. He that defends or guards from danger.
SHELTER, v.t.
1. To cover from violence, injury, annoyance or attack; as a valley sheltered from the north wind by a mountain.
Those ruins shelter’d once his sacred head. Dryden.
We besought the deep shelter to us. Milton.
2. To defend; to protect from danger; to secure or render safe; to harbor.
What endless shall you gain,
to save and shelter Troy’s unhappy train? Dryden.
3. To betake to cover or a safe place.
They sheltered themselves under a rock. Abbot.
4. To cover from notice; to disguise for protection.
In vain I strove to check my growing flame,
Or shelter passion under friendship’s name. Prior.
SHELTER, v.i. To take shelter.
There the Indian herdsman shunning heat,
Shelters in cool. Milton.
SHELTERED, pp. Covered from injury or annoyance; defended; protected.
SHELTERING, ppr. Covering from injury or annoyance; protecting.
SHELTERLESS, a. Destitute of shelter or protection; without home or refuge.
Now sad and shelterless perhaps she lies. Rowe.
SHELTERY, a. affording shelter. [Little used.]
SHELTIE, n. A small but strong horse in Scotland; so called from Shetland, where it is produced.
SHELVE, v.t. shelv. To place on a shelf or on shelves. [Not in use.]
SHELVE, v.i. to incline; to be sloping.
SHELVING, ppr. or a. Inclining; sloping; having declivity.
With rocks and shelving arches vaulted round. Addison.
SHELVY, a. Full of rocks or sand banks; shallow; as a shelvy shore. [See Shelfy.]
SHEMITIC, a. Pertaining to Shem, the son of Noah. The Shemetic languages are Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, Hebrew, Samaria, Ethiopic and Old Phoenician.
SHEND, v.t. ptet. and pp. shent.
1. To injure, mar or spoil. Obs.
That much I fear my body willbe shent. Dryden.
2. To blame, reproach. revile, degrade, disgrace.
The famous name of knighthood foully shend. Spenser.
3. To overpower or surpass.
She pass’d the rest as Cynthia doth shend
The lesser stars.
SHENT, pp. Infured. Obsolete unless in poetry.
SHEPHERD, n.
1. A man employed in tending, feeding and gaurding sheep in the pasture.
2. A swain; a rural lover.
3. The pastor of a parish, church or congregation; a minister of the gospel who superintends a church or parish, and gived instruction in spiritual things. God and Christ are in Scripture dinominated Shepherds, as they lead, protect and govern their people, and provide for their wilfare.
SHEPHERDESS, n. A woman that tends sheep; hence, a rural lass.
She put herself into the garb of a sheperdess. Sidney.
SHEPHERDISH, a. Resembling a shepherd; suiting a shepherd; pastoral; rustic.
SHEPHERDLY, a. Pastoral; rustic.
SHEPHERD’S NEEDLE, n. A plant of the genus Scandix; Venus comb.
SHEPHERD’S POUCH, SHEPHERD’S PURSE, n. A plant of the genus Thlaspi.
SHEPHERD’S ROD, n. A plant of the genus Dipsacus; teasel.
SHEPHERD’S STAFF, n. A plant of the genus Dipsacus.
SHERBET, n. [L. sorbeo.] A drink composed of water, lemon juice and sugar, sometimes with perfumed cakes dissolved in it, with an infusion of some drops of rose water. Another kind made with violets, honey, juice of rasins, etc.
SHERD, n. A pragment; usually written shard, which see.
SHERIF, n. An officer in each county, to whom is entrusted the execution of the laws. In England, sherifs are appointed by the king. In the United States, sherifs are elected by legislature or by the citizens, or appointed and commissioned by the executive of the state. The office of sherif in England is judicial and ministerial. In the United States it is mostly or wholly ministerial. The sherif, by himself or his deputies, executes civil and criminal process throughout the county, has charge of the jail and prisoners, attends courts and keeps the peace.
SHERIFALTY, SHERIFDOM, SHERIFSHIP, SHERIFWICK, n. The office or jurisdiction of sherif. [I believe none of these are in use. See Shrievalty.]
SHERRIFFE, n. The title of a descendant of Mohammed by Hassan Ibn Ali.
SHERRY, n. [sometimes written sherris.] A species of wine; so called from Xeres in Spain, where it is made.
Shew, Shewed, Shewn. [See Show, Showed, Shown.]
SHEW-BREAD. [See Show-bread.]
SHEWER, n. One that shows. [See Shower.]
SHEWING. [See Showing.]
SHIBBOLETH, n. [Heb. an ear of corn, or a stream of water.]
1. A word which was made the criterion by which to distinguish the Ephraimites not being able to pronounce the letter sh, pronounced the word sibboleth. See Judges 12:6. Hence,
2. The criterion of a party; or that which distinguishes one party from another; and usually some peculiarity in things of little importance.
SHIDE, n. A piece split off; a cleft; a piece; a billet of wood; a splinter.
[Not used in New England, and local in England.]
SHEILD, n.
1. A broad piece of defensive armor; a buckler; used in war for the protection of the body. The shields of the ancients were of different shapes and sizes, triangular, square, oval, etc. made of lether or wood covered with lether, and borne on the left arm. This species of armor was a good defence angainst arrows, darts, spears, etc. but would not protect against bullets.
2. Defense; shelter; protection; or the person that defends or protects; as a chief, the ornament and the shield of the nation.
Fear not, Abram; I am they shield and thy exceedind great reward. Genesis 15:1.
3. In heraldry, the escutcheon or field on which are placed the bearings in coats of arms.
SHIELD, v.t.
1. To cover, as with a shield; to cover from dasnger; to defend; to protect; to secure form assault or injury.
To see the son the vanquish’d father shield. Dryden.
Hear one that comes to shield his injur’d honor. Smith.
2. To ward off; to defend against; as clothes shield one from the cold.
SHIELDED, pp. Covered, as with a shield; defended; protected.
SHIELDING, ppr. Covering, as with a shield; defending from attack or injury; protected.
SHIFT, v.i.
1. To move; to change place or position. Vegetables are not able to shift and seek nutriment.
2. To change its direction; to vary; as, the wind shifted from south to west.
3. To change; to give place to other things.
4. To change clothes particularly the under garment or chemise.
5. To resort to expedients for a livelihood, or for accomplishing a purpose; to move from one thing to another, and to seize one expedient when anohter fails.
Men in distress will look to themselves, and leave their companions to shift as well as they can. L’Estrange.
6. To practice indirect methods.
7. To seek methods of safety.
Nature teaches every creature how to shift for itself in cases of danger. L’Estrange.
8. To change place; as, cargo shifts from one side to the other.
SHIFT, v.t.
1. To change; to alter; as, to shift the scenes.
2. To transfer from one place or position to another; as, shift the helm; shift the sails.
3. To put out of the way by some expedient.
I shifted him away.
4. To change, as clothes; as, to shift a coat.
5. To dress in fresh clothes. Let him have time to shift himself.
To shift about, to turn quite round, to a contrary side or opposite point.
To shift off, to delay; to defer; as, to shift off the duteis of religion.
2. To put away; to disengage or disencumber one’s self, as of a burden or inconvenience.
SHIFT, n.
1. A change; a turning from one thing to another; hence, an expedient tried in difficulty; one thing tried when another fails.
I’ll find a thousand shifts to get away. Shak.
2. In a bad sense, mean refuge; last resource.
For little soul on little shifts rely. Dryden.
3. Fraud; artifice; expedient to effect a bad purpose; or an evasion; a trick to escape detection or evil.
4. A woman’s under garment; a chemise.
SHIFTED, pp. Changed from one place or position to another.
SHIFTER, n.
1. One that shifts; the person that plays tricks or practices artifice.
2. In ships, a person employed to assist the ship’s cook in washing, steeping and shifting the salt provisions.
SHIFTING, ppr. Changing place or position; reporting from one expedient to another.
SHIFTINGLY, adv. By shifts and changes; deceitfully.
SHIFTLESS, a. Destitute of expedients, or not resorting to successful expedients; wanting means to act or live; as a shiftless fellow.
SHILF, n. Straw.
SHILL, to shell, not in use.
SHILL, v.t. To put under cover; to sheal. [Not in use or local.]
SHILLING, n. An English silver coin equal to twelve pence, or the twentieth part of a pound. The English shilling, or shilling sterling, is equivilent to nearly 22 cents, 22 hundredths, money of the United States. Our ancestors introduced the name with the coin into this country, but by depreciation the value of the shilling shrunk in New England and Virginia one fourth, or to a fraction less than 17 cents, in New York to 12 1/2 cents, in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland to about 11 cents.
This denomination of money still subsists in the United States, although there is no coin of that value current, except the Spanish coin of 12 1/2/ cents, which is a shilling in the money in the state of New York. Since the adoption of the present coins of the United States, eagles, dollars, cents, etc. the use of the shilling is continued only by habit.
SHILLY-SHALLY, n. Foolish trifling; irresolution. [Vulgar.] [This word has probably been written shill-I shall-I, from an ignorance of its origin.]
SHILY. [See Shyly.]
SHIMNER, v.i. To gleam; to glisten. [Not in use.]
SHIN, n. The fore part of the leg, particularly of the human leg; the fore part of the crural bone, called tibia. This bone being only covered by the skin, may be named for that circumstance; skin-bone; or it may be formed from the root of chine, edge.
SHINE, v.i. [If s is a prefix, this word accords with the root of L. canus, caneo.]
1. To emit rays of light; to give light; to beam with steady radiance; to exhibit lightness or splendor; as, the sun shines by day; the moon shines by night. Shining differs from sparkling, glistening, glittering, as it usually implies a steady radiation or emission of light, whereas the latter words usually imply irregular or interrupted radiation. This distinction is not always not always observed, and we may say, the fixed stars shine, as well as they sparkle. But we never say the sun or the moon sparkles.
2. To be bright; to be lively and animated; to be brilliant.
Let thine eyes shine forth in their full luster. Denham.
3. To be unclouded; as, the moon shines.
4. To be glossy or bright, as silk.
Fish with their fins and shining scales. Milton.
5. To be gay or splendid.
So proud she shined in her princely state. Spenser.
6. To be beautiful.
Once brightest shin’d this child of heat and air. Pope.
7. To be eminent, conspicuous or distinguished; as, to shine in courts.
Few are qualified to shine in company. Swift.
8. To give light, real or figurative.
The light of righteousness hath not shined to us. Wisdom.
9. To manifest glorious excellencies.
10. To be clearly published.
11. To be conspicuously displayed; to be manifest.
Let your light so shine before men- Matthew 5:16.
To cause the face to shine, to be propitious.
SHINE, n.
1. Fair weather.
Be it fair or foul, rain or shine. Dryden.
2. Brightness; splendor; luster; gloss.
The glittering shine of gold. Decay of Piety.
Fair op’ning to some court’s propitious shine. [Not elegant.] Pope.
SHINESS. [See Shyness.]
SHINGLE, n. [Gr.; L. scinkula, from scindo.]
1. A thin board sawed or rived for covering buildings. Shingles are of different lengths, with one end much thinner than the other for lapping. They are used for covering roofs and sometimes the body of the builking.
2. Round gravel, or a collection of roundish stones.
The plain of La Crau in France, is composed of shingle. Pinkerton.
3. Shingles, plu. [L. cingulum,] a kind of tetter or herpes which spreads around the body like a girdle; an eruptive disease.
SHINGLE, v.t. To cover with shingles; as, to shingle a roof.
SHINGLED, pp. Covered with shingles.
SHINGLING, ppr. Covering with shingles.
SHINING, ppr.
1. Emitting light; beaming; gleaming.
2. a. Bright; splendid; radiant.
3. Illustrious; distinguished; conspicuous; as a shining example of charity.
SHINING, n. Effusion or clearness of light; brightness.
SHINY, a. Bright; luminous; clear; unclouded.
Like a distant thunder on a shiny day. Dryden.
SHIP, as a termination, denotes state or office; as in lordship.
SHIP. [See Shape.]
SHIP, n. [L. scapha; from the root of shape.] In a general sense, a vessel or building of a peculiar structure, adapted to navigation, or floating on water by means of sails. In an appropriate sense, a building of a structure or form fitted for navigation, furnished with a bowsprit and three masts, a main-mast, a fore-mast and a mizen-mast, each of which is composed a lower-mast, a top-mast and top-gallant-mast, and square rigged. Ships are of various sizes and are for various uses; most of them however fall under the denomination of ships of war and merchant’s ships.
SHIP, v.t.
1. To put on board of a ship or vessel of any kind; as, to ship goods at Liverpoll for New York.
2. To transport in a ship; to convey by water.
The sun shall no sooner the mountains touch,
But we will ship him hence. Shak.
3. To receive into a ship or vessel; as, to ship at sea.
To ship the oars, to place them in the rowlocks.
To ship off, to send away by water; as, to ship off convicts.
SHIP-BUILDER, n. [ship and builder.] A man whose occupation is to construct
SHIP-BILDER, ships and other vessels; a naval architect; a shipwright.
SHIP-BUILDING, n. [ship and build.] Naval architecture; the art of constructing
SHIP-BILDING, vessels for navigation, particularly ships and other vessels of a large kind, bearing masts; in distinction from boatbuilding.
SHIPBOARD, adv. [ship and board.]
1. To go on shipboard or a shipboard is to go aboard; to enter a ship; to embark; literally, to go over the side. It is a peculiar phrase, and not much used. Seamen say, to go aboard or on board.
To be on ship board, to be in a ship; but seamen generally say, to go aboard or on board.
2. n. The pland of a ship. [Not now used.]