1
: any of a family (Soricidae) of small chiefly nocturnal insectivores related to the moles and distinguished by a long pointed snout, very small eyes, and short velvety fur
2
: an ill-tempered scolding woman
Examples of shrew in a Sentence
Noun
Rip Van Winkle went off into the mountains to escape his wife, a shrew who made his life miserable.
Recent Examples on the Web
Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 June 2025
The music hall performer Belle Elmore was dismissed by the press as a vulgar shrew.
—Jennifer Wright, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2025
Leaf litter hosts life for hundreds of species: bacteria, ants, mushrooms, shrews.
—Marion Renault, The Atlantic, 13 May 2025
The researchers went through hundreds of rodent and shrew carcasses to look for mpox infections and found one: the carcass of a squirrel that had died less than three months before the outbreak started.
—Lillian Ali, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shrew
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Noun
For the study, researchers looked at 1,376 vertebrate species known to eat some amount of carrion, ranging from tiger sharks and spotted hyenas to cane toads and common shrews.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 June 2025
The music hall performer Belle Elmore was dismissed by the press as a vulgar shrew.
—Jennifer Wright, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2025
Leaf litter hosts life for hundreds of species: bacteria, ants, mushrooms, shrews.
—Marion Renault, The Atlantic, 13 May 2025
The researchers went through hundreds of rodent and shrew carcasses to look for mpox infections and found one: the carcass of a squirrel that had died less than three months before the outbreak started.
—Lillian Ali, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shrew
Cite this Entry
“Shrew.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shrew. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
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