shoulder
/ˈʃoʊldɚ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.50 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Anything forming a shape resembling a human shoulder.
Example Sentences
- "The parrot was sitting on Steve's shoulder."
- "But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window[…]."
- "With just the turn of a shoulder she indicated the water front, where, at the end of the dock on which they stood, lay the good ship, Mount Vernon, river packet, the black smoke already pouring from her stacks. In turn he smiled and also shrugged a shoulder."
- "In the firſt Courſe there was a Shoulder of Mutton, cut into an Æquilateral Triangle, a Piece of Beef into a Rhomboides, and a Pudding into a Cycloid."
- "He stopped the car on the shoulder of the highway to change the flat tire."
- "The shoulders are graded and the verges cleared well back to lessen the chances of hitting stray stock."
Etymology
From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sċuldra, sċuldor (“shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuldru (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cognate with Old Frisian skuldere (“shoulder”) (West Frisian skouder (“shoulder”)), Middle Low German scholder (“shoulder”), Low German Schuller, Schulder (“shoulder”), Dutch schouder (“shoulder”), German Schulter (“shoulder”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: schuldre, sċuldra, *skuldru, *skelduz
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈʃoʊldɚ/
- British English: /ˈʃəʊldə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
shoulders (plural)
shouder (alternative, dialectal)
shoulders (present, singular)
shouldering (participle, present)
shouldered (participle, past)
shouldered (past)