shoulder

English Online Dictionary. What means shoulder‎? What does shoulder mean?

English

Alternative forms

• shouder (dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sculdra, sculdor (“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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʃəʊldə/
• (General American) enPR: shōlʹdər, IPA^(key): /ˈʃoʊldɚ/
• Rhymes: -əʊldə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: shoul‧der

Noun

shoulder (plural shoulders)

1. The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and forearm socket.
   1. The part of the human torso forming a relatively horizontal surface running away from the neck.
   2. (anatomy) The joint between the arm and the torso, sometimes including the surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
   3. A cut of meat comprising the upper joint of the foreleg and the surrounding muscle.
   4. The portion of a garment where the shoulder is clothed.
2. Anything forming a shape resembling a human shoulder.
3. (topography) A shelf between two levels.
   1. A usually unsealed strip of land bordering a road, where vehicles can drive or park in an emergency.
   2. The portion of a hill or mountain just below the peak.
   3. A lateral protrusion of a hill or mountain.
   4. The angle of a bastion included between the face and flank.
   5. An abrupt projection which forms an abutment on an object, or limits motion, etc., such as the projection around a tenon at the end of a piece of timber.
4. (printing) The flat portion of type that is below the bevelled portion that joins up with the face.
5. (of an object) The portion between the neck and the body.
   1. (music) The rounded portion of a stringed instrument where the neck joins the body.
   2. The rounded portion of a bottle where the neck meets the body.
   3. (firearms) The angled section between the neck and the main body of a cartridge.
6. (figurative) That which supports or sustains; support.
7. The part of a key between the cuts and the bow.
8. (surfing) The part of a wave that has not yet broken.

   Synonym: hook
9. (aviation) A season or a time of day when there is relatively little air traffic.

   Coordinate term: noon balloon

Hyponyms

• (a verge to the side of a road): hard shoulder, soft shoulder

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

shoulder (third-person singular simple present shoulders, present participle shouldering, simple past and past participle shouldered)

1. (transitive) To push (a person or thing) using one's shoulder.
2. (transitive, by extension) To bully, manipulate or pull rank on (somebody).

3. (transitive) To put (something) on one's shoulders.
4. (transitive) To place (something) against one's shoulders.
5. (transitive, figuratively) To bear a burden, as a financial obligation.
6. (transitive, figuratively) To accept responsibility for.
7. (transitive) To form a shape resembling a shoulder.
8. (intransitive) To move by or as if by using one's shoulders.
9. (transitive) To round and slightly raise the top edges of slate shingles so that they form a tighter fit at the lower edge and can be swung aside to expose the nail.
10. (intransitive) To slope downwards from the crest and whitewater portion of a wave.
11. (transitive, archaic, slang) Of a servant: to embezzle money from (the employer).

Translations

Further reading

• “shoulder”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.