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shoulder

Pronunciation: /ˈʃəʊldə/

The English word “shoulder” has 20 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. The part of the human torso forming a relatively horizontal surface running away from the neck.
  2. The joint between the arm and the torso, sometimes including the surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
  3. A cut of meat comprising the upper joint of the foreleg and the surrounding muscle.
  4. The portion of a garment where the shoulder is clothed.
  5. Anything forming a shape resembling a human shoulder.
  6. A usually unsealed strip of land bordering a road, where vehicles can drive or park in an emergency.
  7. The portion of a hill or mountain just below the peak.
  8. A lateral protrusion of a hill or mountain.
  9. The angle of a bastion included between the face and flank.
  10. An abrupt projection which forms an abutment on an object, or limits motion, etc., such as the projection around a tenon at the end of a piece of timber.
  11. The flat portion of type that is below the bevelled portion that joins up with the face.
  12. The rounded portion of a stringed instrument where the neck joins the body.
  13. The rounded portion of a bottle where the neck meets the body.
  14. The angled section between the neck and the main body of a cartridge.
  15. That which supports or sustains; support.
  16. The part of a key between the cuts and the bow.
  17. The part of a wave that has not yet broken.
  18. A season or a time of day when there is relatively little air traffic.

verb

  1. To push (a person or thing) using one's shoulder.
  2. To bully, manipulate or pull rank on (somebody).

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…

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