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# shred

noun (a shred, shreds); verb (shred, shreds, shredded, shredding)

«shred» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (noun) A small, thin piece torn or cut from something. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shred/#m1)
2. (noun) A very small amount: "not a shred of evidence". [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shred/#m2)
3. (verb) To tear or cut something into small thin pieces. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shred/#m3)
4. (verb) To destroy papers with a shredding machine. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shred/#m4)
5. (slang) To play guitar very fast and well, or to skate or surf very well; "shredded" also means very muscly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shred/#m5)

### In the lessons

In cooking, you shred cheese, lettuce or cabbage. In offices and safety, people shred papers with private details so others cannot read them. In stories and the news, "not a shred of evidence" means none at all. Phrases: in shreds, tear to shreds, a shred of truth, shredded cheese.

### Examples

- Mum shredded the cheese for the pizza. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shred/#x1)
- The dog tore my homework to shreds! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shred/#x2)
- There is not a shred of evidence that he did it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shred/#x3)
- Dad shredded the old bank letters. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shred/#x4)
- Her dress was in shreds after the storm. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shred/#x5)
- That guitarist can really shred! (slang) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shred/#x6)

### Note

Past form: shredded (double d). "Tear someone to shreds" (figurative) means to criticise them harshly. "Shredded wheat" is a cereal.

## In Jewish tradition

Here it means to cut up into small pieces, as a man shredded wild gourds into a stew.

**Interpretation.** Tradition reads the story as Elisha's miracle, when he made the poisoned stew safe with flour and the prophet's word.

### Examples

- And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage; for they knew them not. (Prophets 2KI.4.39, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/shred/#x1)

### Note

Past form: shredded (double d). "Tear someone to shreds" (figurative) means to criticise them harshly. "Shredded wheat" is a cereal.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «shred» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shred/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«shred» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/shred.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «shred» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/shred/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«shred» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/shred.html) on Mova free.