shoulders

verb

present tense third-person singular of shoulder
1
as in assumes
to take to or upon oneself agreed to shoulder the burden of caring for their elderly father

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in pushes
to force one's way shouldered through the crowd at the bar and ordered a drink

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shoulders Mary Amiti, Sebastian Heise and David Weinstein looked at who shoulders the cost of the tariffs, examining which part of the tariff reaches consumers through higher prices versus which share of the price hike is due to other factors. — Veronique De Rugy, Oc Register, 4 Sep. 2026 Elordi nearly shoulders the running time but plays his Hig a bit too humbly. — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026 There are also fears the plan may spark a lawsuit as tensions between the states over who shoulders the cuts bubble over. — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026 Ashley Christopher, an attorney and Howard alumna whose son is a sophomore there, thinks Howard shoulders some blame. — Matt Brown, Fortune, 8 Aug. 2026 Maja witnessing her parents’ difficulties, quickly learns Danish and consequently shoulders the responsibility of an adult to support them. — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 3 Aug. 2026 In the run-up to the summit, Erdogan described Turkey as a reliable ally that consistently shoulders responsibility on NATO’s southeastern flank and will continue to play a leading role in the alliance. — ABC News, 1 July 2026 The least productive line of the four against Minnesota was the second unit, but that trio also shoulders significant defensive responsibilities. — Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 20 May 2026 Cunningham shoulders the weight of a city thirsty for meaningful basketball. — Hunter Patterson, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoulders
  1. assumes
  2. pushes
  3. accepts
  4. elbows
  5. bears
  6. squeezes
  7. muscles
Verb
  • Castro assumes his role at a time of uncertainty for the 2027 baseball season, with a lockout looking increasingly likely and the annual Winter Meetings in December potentially subject to cancellation.
    — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Evercore's middle scenario assumes a divided Congress, an undisputed election and no military escalation in Iran, putting the year-end S & P 500 target at 7,750, a little less than 3% above Monday's close.
    — Paulina Likos, CNBC, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of assumes
Verb
  • With the street protests contained, that pushes the economic issue—the protesters want more spending and fewer cuts, which the bond market is unlikely to tolerate—into next April’s elections.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2026
  • When a developer pushes code, Pando stores the incoming Git packfile in cloud object storage.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of pushes
Verb
  • When Lear disowns her, the King of France accepts Cordelia as his wife and takes her back to his homeland.
    — Langdon Hammer, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026
  • When Danny is assigned to create a holiday scrapbook for his mom, Michaela reluctantly accepts help from his free-spirited substitute teacher, Bryan (Morgan), whose creativity clashes with her need for preciseness and control.
    — Rachel LaBonte, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of accepts
Verb
  • Ernest’s grandma called from the kitchen, elbows in dishwater.
    — Madeline ffitch, Harpers Magazine, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Where the Cayenne’s steering is calibrated so that the road nudges the driver, Bentley’s elbows back at those perturbances.
    — Byron Hurd, The Drive, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of elbows
Verb
  • FoxNews bears responsibility for these losses by constantly and consistently putting on the Dumocrat opposition, and worse.
    — Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Anyone who has watched 20th century Western films — including the Jimmy Stewart classic that bears the gun’s name — has seen the rifle’s silhouette.
    — Mark Dee, Idaho Statesman, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of bears
Verb
  • George pounds, folds, and squeezes the dough as Minicuci watches.
    — HubSpot, HubSpot, 30 Oct. 2026
  • When the user presses their finger on the part of the patch that contains the wet fabric, the pressure squeezes the water out of the material, down one of the microfluidic channels, and into the foaming agent chamber.
    — Ben Coxworth October 23, New Atlas, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of squeezes
Verb
  • Panthers receiver Cataurus Hicks comes down with it and muscles his way forward in an attempt to get into the end zone.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 28 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Definition of muscles

Phrases Containing shoulders

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shouldering
shoulders
shout
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Cite this Entry

“Shoulders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shoulders. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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