Shed
(Shed), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shed; p. pr. & vb. n. Shedding.] [OE. scheden, schden, to pour,
to part, AS. scadan, sceádan, to pert, to separate; akin to OS. skan, OFries. sktha, G. scheiden, OHG.
sceidan, Goth. skaidan, and probably to Lith. skëdu I part, separate, L. scindere to cleave, to split, Gr.
Skr. chid, and perch. also to L. caedere to cut. &radic159. Cf. Chisel, Concise, Schism, Sheading,
Sheath, Shide.]
1. To separate; to divide. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Robert of Brunne.
2. To part with; to throw off or give forth from one's self; to emit; to diffuse; to cause to emanate or flow; to
pour forth or out; to spill; as, the sun sheds light; she shed tears; the clouds shed rain.
Did Romeo's hand shed Tybalt's blood?
Shak.
Twice seven consenting years have shed
Their utmost bounty on thy head.
Wordsworth. 3. To let fall; to throw off, as a natural covering of hair, feathers, shell; to cast; as, fowls shed their feathers; serpents
shed their skins; trees shed leaves.
4. To cause to flow off without penetrating; as, a tight roof, or covering of oiled cloth, sheeds water.
5. To sprinkle; to intersperse; to cover. [R.] "Her hair . . . is shed with gray." B. Jonson.
6. (Weaving) To divide, as the warp threads, so as to form a shed, or passageway, for the shuttle.
Shed
(Shed), v. i.
1. To fall in drops; to pour. [Obs.]
Such a rain down from the welkin shadde.
Chaucer. 2. To let fall the parts, as seeds or fruit; to throw off a covering or envelope.
White oats are apt to shed most as they lie, and black as they stand.
Mortimer. Shed
(Shed), n.
1. A parting; a separation; a division. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
They say also that the manner of making the shed of newwedded wives' hair with the iron head of a
javelin came up then likewise.
Sir T. North. 2. The act of shedding or spilling; — used only in composition, as in bloodshed.
3. That which parts, divides, or sheds; — used in composition, as in watershed.
4. (Weaving) The passageway between the threads of the warp through which the shuttle is thrown,
having a sloping top and bottom made by raising and lowering the alternate threads.
Shedder
(Shed"der) n.
1. One who, or that which, sheds; as, a shedder of blood; a shedder of tears.
2. (Zoöl.) A crab in the act of casting its shell, or immediately afterwards while still soft; — applied especially
to the edible crabs, which are most prized while in this state.
Shedding
(Shed"ding) n.
