Word.ws English Dictionary

giving someone the shits

giving someone the shits is the present participle and gerund of give someone the shits.

Meaning of give someone the shits

Verb

give someone the shits (third-person singular simple present gives someone the shits, present participle giving someone the shits, simple past gave someone the shits, past participle given someone the shits)

  1. (Australia, colloquial, vulgar) To annoy or frustrate someone to a great degree.
    • Can you stop sending me text messages at two in the morning? You're giving me the shits!
  2. (vulgar) To creep someone out; to scare someone.
    • Can you stop perching on the cliff ledge? You're giving me the shits!
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: cause diarrhea.
    • Can you stop ignoring the health code requirements for commercial kitchens? You're giving everyone the shits!

Questions about giving someone the shits

What is giving someone the shits the present participle and gerund of?
Giving someone the shits is the present participle and gerund of give someone the shits.

Words near giving someone the shits in the dictionary

  1. giving someone the eye
  2. giving someone the gears
  3. giving someone the heave-ho
  4. giving someone the old heave-ho
  5. giving someone the runaround
  6. giving someone the shits
  7. giving someone the slip
  8. giving someone the time
  9. giving someone their cards
  10. giving someone their flowers
  11. giving someone to understand

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: giving someone the shits (page history and authors); give someone the shits (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “giving someone the shits.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/giving_someone_the_shits. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.