shoulder
English · Thesaurus
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shoulder
- /ˈʃəʊldə/ UK
- /ˈʃoʊldɚ/ US
Rhymes with -əʊldə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
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”).
noun shoulders · shouder
- The part of the human torso forming a relatively horizontal surface running away from the neck. The parrot was sitting on Steve's shoulder.
- The joint between the arm and the torso, sometimes including the surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
- A cut of meat comprising the upper joint of the foreleg and the surrounding muscle. In the firſt Courſe there was a Shoulder of Mutton, cut into an Æquilateral Triangle, a Piece of Beef into a Rhomboides, and a Pudding into a Cycloid.
- The portion of a garment where the shoulder is clothed.
- Anything forming a shape resembling a human shoulder.
-
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.
Similar: lay-by
- The portion of a hill or mountain just below the peak. […]the north-western shoulder of the mountain[…]
- A lateral protrusion of a hill or mountain. I certainly was not prepared for the cosy nestling valleys that snuggled against the shoulders of the hills; a land where the graystone cottages and farmsteads still prevailed, but where they had taken on something of the softness of their kind in Gloucester and the Cotswolds, and seemed almost like
- The angle of a bastion included between the face and flank.
- 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. Having thus fully described my improved winnowing machine, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is in the forming of a series of shoulders one above another on the inclined board, forming the bottom of the hopper,...
- The flat portion of type that is below the bevelled portion that joins up with the face.
- The rounded portion of a stringed instrument where the neck joins the body.
- The rounded portion of a bottle where the neck meets the body.
- The angled section between the neck and the main body of a cartridge.
- That which supports or sustains; support. passage[…]in thy ſhoulder do I builde my Seate;
- The part of a key between the cuts and the bow.
-
The part of a wave that has not yet broken.
You see you're going to make it into the safety of the shoulder. It feels like the happiest day of your life.
Similar: hook
- A season or a time of day when there is relatively little air traffic. For a round-trip journey starting from the UK during the shoulder period (1 April-30 June) […]
verb shoulders · shouldering · shouldered · shouder
- To push (a person or thing) using one's shoulder. […]As they the earth would ſhoulder from her ſeat,[…]
- To bully, manipulate or pull rank on (somebody). He shouldered me out of my own band.
- To put (something) on one's shoulders. Early in the morning they shouldered light packs, took their rifles, crossed the big draw, and entered the timber where was the deadfall.
- To place (something) against one's shoulders. All three sets are nicely sculptured along the bottom to prevent interference when shouldering your gun with proper shooting form.
- To bear a burden, as a financial obligation. The shareholders were then shouldering a burden of liability out of proportion to their mere ownership of theoretical fractions of the business.
- To accept responsibility for. shoulder the blame
- To form a shape resembling a shoulder. allowance at the bottom of blind bores for the chamfered tip of the reamer will obviate additional operations with shouldering or bottoming reamers to completely finish the entire length of a hole.
- To move by or as if by using one's shoulders. The sullen murmur of the bees shouldering their way through the long unmown grass, or circling with monotonous insistence round the dusty gilt horns of the straggling woodbine, seemed to make the stillness more oppressive.
- 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.
- To slope downwards from the crest and whitewater portion of a wave.
- Of a servant: to embezzle money from (the employer).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: shoulder joint, articulatio humeri, cover, wear, flange, chest, handle, bend, embrace, absorb, palette, stopper, tackle, slope, roadside, exercise
Translations
Every language
noun rounded portion of a bottle
| Français | epaule |
|---|
noun top of the torso, away from the neck
| Español | paleta, paletilla |
|---|---|
| Français | épaule |
| Italiano | spalla, dorso, schiena, groppone, groppa |
| Русский | плечо́ plečó |
noun joint between arm and torso
| Español | hombro |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 어깨 eokkae |
| 日本語 | 肩 kata |
| 中文 | 肩 jiān, 肩膀 jiānbǎng |
| हिन्दी | कंधा kandhā, शाना śānā |
| Kiswahili | bega |
| Português | ombro |
| Français | épaule |
| Deutsch | Schulter |
| Italiano | spalla |
| Ελληνικά | ώμος ómos |
| Română | umăr |
| Русский | плечо́ plečó, ра́мя rámja, ра́мо rámo |
| Tiếng Việt | vai |
| العربية | كَتِف katif, كِتْف kitf, مَنْكِب mankib, عَاتِق ʕātiq |
| עברית | כָּתֵף katéf |
noun abrupt projection which forms an abutment on an object
| Français | épaulement |
|---|
verb push (a person or thing) using one's shoulder
| Português | dar uma ombrada |
|---|
verb put (something) on one's shoulders
| 한국어 | 메다 meda |
|---|---|
| Português | carregar nas costas |
| Deutsch | schultern |
| Tiếng Việt | vác |
verb accept responsibility for
| Português | arcar |
|---|
Talk about this word "shoulder." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/shoulder. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. shoulder. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/shoulder "shoulder." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/shoulder.Cite this
@misc{shoulder_2026,
title = {shoulder},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/shoulder},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
