1
as in assumes
to take to or upon oneself
agreed to shoulder the burden of caring for their elderly father
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Recent Examples of shoulders
Cunningham shoulders the weight of a city thirsty for meaningful basketball.
—
Hunter Patterson, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2026
Charismatic and charming as ever, Gosling easily shoulders the job of being the only human onscreen for an epoch.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
There is great skepticism about Ellison’s ability to make the high-wire act work while Paramount Skydance shoulders a mountain of debt supplied by a consortium that includes Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 27 Feb. 2026
Teams feel uncertainty at the top, momentum slows, and the CEO quietly shoulders more stress, not less.
—Melissa Houston, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Buckley shoulders intense on-screen distress without losing grasp of her character’s humanity, and Mescal lets his wan charm melt into something more haunted as Shakespeare ages and wrestles with loss.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 27 Nov. 2025
Atop that sits the conundrum of living in a city so small that every citizen shoulders the stress of celebrity.
—Literary Hub, 26 Nov. 2025
The Arabic word sirāt can refer to, among other things, the razor-thin bridge that leads, over the chasm of Hell, to paradise—a heavy burden of eschatological significance, but the film shoulders it lightly.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2025
Both cases are apt to serve as models for how to prevent the kind of school shootings still plaguing the nation and could set legal precedent for who shoulders the blame when children have access to guns and open fire on campus.
—Cindy Von Quednow, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
Hunter Patterson, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2026
Charismatic and charming as ever, Gosling easily shoulders the job of being the only human onscreen for an epoch.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
There is great skepticism about Ellison’s ability to make the high-wire act work while Paramount Skydance shoulders a mountain of debt supplied by a consortium that includes Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 27 Feb. 2026
Teams feel uncertainty at the top, momentum slows, and the CEO quietly shoulders more stress, not less.
—Melissa Houston, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Buckley shoulders intense on-screen distress without losing grasp of her character’s humanity, and Mescal lets his wan charm melt into something more haunted as Shakespeare ages and wrestles with loss.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 27 Nov. 2025
Atop that sits the conundrum of living in a city so small that every citizen shoulders the stress of celebrity.
—Literary Hub, 26 Nov. 2025
The Arabic word sirāt can refer to, among other things, the razor-thin bridge that leads, over the chasm of Hell, to paradise—a heavy burden of eschatological significance, but the film shoulders it lightly.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2025
Both cases are apt to serve as models for how to prevent the kind of school shootings still plaguing the nation and could set legal precedent for who shoulders the blame when children have access to guns and open fire on campus.
—Cindy Von Quednow, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoulders
Verb
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But that scenario assumes the streamers actually want the same packages the networks currently hold.—
Bobby Burack OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
16 May 2026
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Leadership sees growing demand from business intelligence to AI workloads and assumes the team cannot keep up.—
Prashanthi Kolluru,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Verb
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Produced by Kunal Kemmu and Chirag Nihalani through their Drongo Films banner, Vibe centers on two inseparable friends whose ordinary, unassuming lives spiral into an unpredictable, high-energy adventure that pushes their survival instincts and friendship to the limit.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
19 May 2026
-
The problem is that urgency pushes people toward fast decisions — and wildfire smoke is exactly when bad air purifier choices become expensive.—
Ryan Brennan
May 19,
Miami Herald,
19 May 2026
Verb
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In light of her public embarrassment, her author father, Greg, accepts a position as a visiting lecturer on campus to be close to his daughter in her time of need.—
Leigh Nordstrom,
Footwear News,
12 May 2026
-
No honest measure of Jewish teachings accepts the distancing of religious interests from communal concerns.—
Joshua M. Davidson,
New York Daily News,
11 May 2026
Verb
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Figures move across these planes in extravagant silhouette, heads tilted just so, fingers stiffly splayed and elbows akimbo.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
1 May 2026
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Before the Bride elbows her way into his life, Frank, ever so lonely, retreats into the world of movies.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Because the three-row SUV bears more than a passing similarity to one of its best-selling model, the Defender.—
Bryan Hood,
Robb Report,
19 May 2026
-
Their plight bears similarities to a leaking roof.—
Roshane Thomas,
New York Times,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
For the United States, the blockade squeezes Iran’s already weakened economy by denying it long-term cash flow.—
Michelle L. Price,
Fortune,
19 Apr. 2026
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The waves, which were first used in Boston in 2011, help spread things out so that runners don’t have to walk after the start, when Main Street in Hopkinton squeezes to just 39 feet wide.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 Apr. 2026
Verb
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One year later, the XFL muscles its way onto the national sports scene with its first two games.—
Assistant Sports Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Feb. 2026
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Gringo Films does not sound like the kind of company that muscles its way into the global animation business.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shoulders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shoulders. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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