Etimology
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 (“shoulder”), Dutch schouder (“shoulder”), German Schulter (“shoulder”).
noun
shoulder (plural shoulders)
The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and forearm socket.
Anything forming a shape resembling a human shoulder.
(topography) A shelf between two levels.
(printing) The flat portion of type that is below the bevelled portion that joins up with the face.
(of an object) The portion between the neck and the body.
(figurative) That which supports or sustains; support.
The part of a key between the cuts and the bow.Parts of a Yale lock-type key
(surfing) The part of a wave that has not yet broken.
(aviation) A season or a time of day when there is relatively little air traffic.
Examples
The parrot was sitting on Steve's shoulder.
But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […].
With just the turn of a shoulder she indicated the water front, where, at the end of the dock on which they stood, lay the good ship, Mount Vernon, river packet, the black smoke already pouring from her stacks. In turn he smiled and also shrugged a shoulder.
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.
He stopped the car on the shoulder of the highway to change the flat tire.
The shoulders are graded and the verges cleared well back to lessen the chances of hitting stray stock.
[…] the north-western shoulder of the 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 growths of the soil; […] .
passage […] in thy ſhoulder do I builde my Seate;
Synonym: hook
Coordinate term: noon balloon
For a round-trip journey starting from the UK during the shoulder period […]
the determination of noise-induced disturbances during the shoulder hours and their consequences for the consecutive sleep period
Related words
hyponyms
(a verge to the side of a road): hard shoulder, soft shoulder
verb
shoulder (third-person singular simple present shoulders, present participle shouldering, simple past and past participle shouldered)
(transitive) To push (a person or thing) using one's shoulder.
(transitive) To put (something) on one's shoulders.
(transitive) To place (something) against one's shoulders.
(transitive, figuratively) To bear a burden, as a financial obligation.
(transitive, figuratively) To accept responsibility for.
(transitive) To form a shape resembling a shoulder.
(intransitive) To move by or as if by using one's shoulders.
(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.
(intransitive) To slope downwards from the crest and whitewater portion of a wave.
(transitive, archaic, slang) Of a servant: to embezzle money from (the employer).
Examples
[…] As they the earth would ſhoulder from her ſeat, […]
Around her numberless the rabble flowed, / Shouldering each other, crowding for a view.
Early in the morning they shouldered light packs, took their rifles, crossed the big draw, and entered the timber where was the deadfall.
Like a power clean, shouldering a sandbag — lifting it from the floor to your shoulder in one explosive movement — requires a coordinated effort from your core, upper body, and legs.
All three sets are nicely sculptured along the bottom to prevent interference when shouldering your gun with proper shooting form.
The shareholders were then shouldering a burden of liability out of proportion to their mere ownership of theoretical fractions of the business.
shoulder the blame
The former president has been forced to shoulder some of the blame for poor performances in key races, including in Pennsylvania, where his handpicked Republican candidate, Mehmet Oz, lost to Democrat John Fetterman in a contest that allowed Democrats to keep the Senate majority.
She had a father before this and now she doesn’t have a father. And I shouldered that because if Meg wasn’t with me, then her dad would still be her dad.
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.
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.
[…] a yoke of the great sulky white bullocks […] came shouldering along together;
He had seen them in the beer halls, shouldering up to the head of the queues
Mr. Wagstaff strolled with me along the wooded arm of land shouldering northwards from Bethlehem Bay.