shred

noun

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\ ˈshred

, especially Southern ˈsred \

Definition of shred

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : a long narrow strip cut or torn off

b shreds plural : a shredded, damaged, or ruined condition a reputation torn to shreds

2 : particle, scrap not a shred of evidence

shred

verb

shredded; shredding

Definition of shred (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to cut or tear into shreds shredded the documents

2 : demolish sense 2 sharp lawyers shredding hapless witnesses— Charles Krauthammer

3 archaic : to cut off

intransitive verb

: to come apart in or break up into shreds

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Examples of shred in a Sentence

Noun The wallpaper is in shreds. His reputation was in shreds after the arrest. He struggled to retain a shred of his dignity. Verb Shred the cabbage and add it to the salad. shredded some cooked chicken for the soup

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun In Houston, any shred of optimism that Roosevelt Rodriguez once had about finding Chanel is nearly gone. — Melissa Chan, Time, "Lady Gaga Got Her Dogs Back, but as Criminals Capitalize on the Demand for Pandemic Pups, Others Aren't So Lucky," 12 Mar. 2021 This series reveals pretty much every American mob story to be a clownish, patty-cake affair, utterly devoid of a shred of authenticity or soul. — Andy Meek, BGR, "HBO Max just gave people a great new reason to sign up," 13 Mar. 2021 Lose, but at least lose with some shred of dignity. — Tom Noie, The Indianapolis Star, "Noie: Notre Dame basketball flounders in 42-point loss to UNC in ACC tournament," 11 Mar. 2021 Despite his insistence on not sugarcoating the situation, Murray found a shred of a silver lining in the team’s recent narrow losses. — Los Angeles Times, "Column: Ducks GM Bob Murray still has total confidence in coach Dallas Eakins," 8 Mar. 2021 No person with a shred of insight into the mind of a 14-year-old girl would dare use the girl’s name as their email handle. — Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, "In-law grabs child’s name for email address," 24 Dec. 2020 Alexander, now 28, spent more than three years in jail accused of capital murder before Sutter County prosecutors dropped the charges, which were based on a flimsy confession and not a shred of physical evidence. — Matthias Gafni, SFChronicle.com, "Killer of 94-year-old woman sentenced in case that saw smearing, jailing of another man," 22 Jan. 2021 No person with a shred of insight into the mind of a 14-year-old girl would dare use the girl’s name as their email handle. — Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, "In-law grabs child’s name for email address," 24 Dec. 2020 Dickey, now a member of the team, is holding on to a shred of hope that the campaign to reinstate volleyball will be successful, and the university will reverse its decision. — Ann Killion, SFChronicle.com, "Stanford recruits’ nightmare: Committing, then having their sport vanish," 23 Jan. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb After a few quiet seasons, by his standards, Rodgers in 2020 used wide receivers Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to shred defenses as the Packers led the N.F.L. in scoring and finished fifth in total yardage. — Benjamin Hoffman, New York Times, "N.F.L. Playoff Predictions: Our Picks in the Conference Championships," 21 Jan. 2021 Take two forks and gently begin to shred the chicken pulling away in opposite directions. — Kellie Speed, chicagotribune.com, "How to slow cook chicken," 4 Mar. 2021 Pull pork out and shred or cut into small pieces, then return meat to stew. — Aleksandra Crapanzano, WSJ, "Soothing Winter Soup Recipes," 27 Feb. 2021 Transfer chicken to a cutting board and shred into bite-size pieces. — Meredith Deeds Special To The Star Tribune, Star Tribune, "Hominy has starring role in pozole," 13 Jan. 2021 One woman even went so far as to shred the plastic card. — Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, "Blue Visa card looks like a stimulus scam. But it's not," 22 Jan. 2021 Use julienne peeler or food processor to shred papaya (or mangoes) and carrot. — Gabriella Vigoreaux, Good Housekeeping, "Thai Green Papaya Salad," 21 Jan. 2021 Remove and discard any bones from the chicken and shred or chop the meat into bite-size pieces. — Tribune News Service, cleveland, "Four chicken soup recipes to soothe the soul this winter," 20 Jan. 2021 Using your hands, shred all the meat and discard the bones. — Dallas News, "3 soothing chicken soup recipes: Tom Kha Gai, Thukpa and Sopa de Lima," 28 Dec. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'shred.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.