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Webster 1913 Edition


Shive

Shive

,
Noun.
[See
Sheave
,
Noun.
]
1.
A slice;
as, a
shive
of bread
.
[Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
Shak.
2.
A thin piece or fragment; specifically, one of the scales or pieces of the woody part of flax removed by the operation of breaking.
3.
A thin, flat cork used for stopping a wide-mouthed bottle; also, a thin wooden bung for casks.

Webster 1828 Edition


Shive

SHIVE

,
Noun.
shiv.
1. A slice; a thin cut; as a shive of bread. [Not in use.]
2. A thin flexible piece cut off. [Not in use.]
3. A little piece or fragment; as the shives of flax made by breaking

Definition 2024


shive

shive

English

Noun

shive (plural shives)

  1. A slice, especially of bread.
    • 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers:
      In my cool room with the shutters shut and the thin shives of air and light coming through the slats, I cried myself to sleep in an overloud selfpitying transport.
  2. (obsolete) A sheave.
  3. A beam or plank of split wood.
  4. A flat, wide cork for plugging a large hole.

(Can we add an example for this sense?)

Translations

Etymology 2

From a Proto-Germanic base which probably existed in Old English (though is not attested before the Middle English period). Cognate with German Schebe, Dutch scheef.

Noun

shive (plural shives)

  1. (obsolete) A splinter; a particle of fluff on the surface of cloth or other material.
  2. (paper-makin) A particle of impurity in finished paper.
Translations

Etymology 3

Variant of shiv.

Noun

shive (plural shives)

  1. Alternative form of shiv
    • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day (Vintage 2007), page 50:
      So every alleyway down here, every shadow big enough to hide a shive artist with a grudge, is a warm invitation to rewrite history.

Etymology 4

See shiva

Noun

shive

  1. Alternative spelling of shiva
    • 2010, William Labov, A Life of Learning
      There are some cultural details in Schissel’s story that are specific to the Jewish community: the family sits shive (seven days of mourning for the dead), and the preference for silence at that time.
Derived terms
  • sit shive
Translations

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