shed

/ʃɛd/

shed verb: to part, separate or divide. Also the alternative form of woodshed.

Image: Thryduulf, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb (1)

shed (third-person singular simple present sheds, present participle shedding, simple past and past participle shed or (nonstandard) shedded)

(UK, dialectal, transitive) To part, separate or divide.
- to shed something in two
- to shed the sheep from the lambs
(ambitransitive) To part with, separate from, leave off; cast off, cast, let fall, be divested of.
- You must shed your fear of the unknown before you can proceed.
- When we found the snake, it was in the process of shedding its skin.
(archaic, transitive) To pour; to make flow.
- Did Romeo's hand shed Tybalt's blood?c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
(transitive) To allow to flow or fall.
- I didn't shed many tears when he left me.
- A tarpaulin sheds water.
(transitive) To radiate, cast, give off (light).
- to shed light on
- Can you shed any light on this problem?
(obsolete, transitive) To pour forth, give off, impart.
- Sence now that he by the right honde of god exalted is, and hath receaved off the father the promys off the holy goost, he hath sheed forthe that which ye nowe se and heare.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts ij
(intransitive, obsolete) To fall in drops; to pour.
To sprinkle; to intersperse; to cover.
- Her hair […] is shed with gray.1606, Ben Jonson, Hymenaei
To divide, as the warp threads, so as to form a shed, or passageway, for the shuttle.

Noun (1)

shed (plural sheds)

An opening between upper and lower warp yarns through which the weft is woven.
- Open the shed. Working in the direction that the shuttle will travel, insert the pick-up stick under the first 8 warp ends (including both lifted and lowered ends) and under the last 9 ends, passing through the open shed in between.2026, Emily Barth, “Woolly Cocoon Bags”, in Handwoven, volume XLVII, number 1, pages 36-37
(obsolete) A distinction or dividing-line.
(obsolete) A parting in the hair.
(obsolete) The top of the head.
(obsolete outside of compounds) An area of land as distinguished from those around it.

Noun (2)

shed (plural sheds)

A slight or temporary structure built to shade or shelter something; a structure usually open in front; an outbuilding, especially a smallish one; a hut.
- wagon shed
- wood shed
A large temporary open structure for reception of goods.
(UK, derogatory, informal) An automobile which is old, worn-out, slow, or otherwise of poor quality.

Synonyms:

banger, beater, bucket of bolts, bucket of rust, clunker, crate, crock, flivver, gas guzzler, hooptie
(UK, informal) A British Rail Class 66 locomotive.
- Never saw that but we did stand and watch a pair of Sheds (156 and 165) speed north on a loaded steel.2000 November 12, Bruce Garbutt, “Re: DRS to Cardiff (was Re: Tractor via Eddiestown)”, in uk.railway (Usenet)
(nuclear physics) A unit of area equivalent to 10⁻⁵² square meters.

Verb (2)

shed (third-person singular simple present sheds, present participle shedding, simple past and past participle shedded)

(transitive) To place or allocate a vehicle, such as a locomotive, in or to a depot or shed.
- On the Dava line, apart from the banking assistance given by the 4-4-0s, the traffic is handled by the standard class "5" 4-6-0s, known among the drivers as "Hikers"; these engines are shedded at Inverness and Perth.1944 January and February, W. McGowan Gradon, “Forres as a Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 23
- As these [diesel] trains have to be shedded under cover at night, four additional outdoor standage roads are being provided for stabling of electric rolling stock after inspection in the shed.1956 October, “Recent Changes on the Tyneside Electrified Lines”, in Railway Magazine, page 662
(transitive) To woodshed.

Adjective capitalized: SHED

SHED (not comparable)

(Internet) Relating to topics of self-harm, eating disorders, or suicidal ideation.

Proper noun capitalized: Shed

Shed (plural Sheds)

A surname.

Also used as

shed is also the alternative form of woodshed.

shed meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

shed in Hindi

temporary structure to shelter something: कुटिया kuṭiyā, कुटी kuṭī, झोंपड़ी jhõpṛī

shed in Tamil

to part or divide: உதிர் utir, விடு viṭu
to pour; to make flow: ஊற்று ūṟṟu, பொழி poḻi
to allow to flow or fall: சிந்து cintu
to radiate, cast, give off: ஒளிர் oḷir

shed in Urdu

temporary structure to shelter something: پِنْڈال pinḍāl, جھون٘پْڑی jhõpṛī

More languagesFewer languages

shed in Bengali: ছাউন
shed in Telugu: షెడ్
shed in Malayalam: പൊഴിക്കുക poḻikkuka, പൊഴിയുക poḻiyuka
shed in Kannada: ಶೆಡ್
shed in Punjabi: ਸ਼ੈੱਡ, ਸ਼ੈਡ
shed in Arabic: سَقِيفَة saqīfa
shed in Persian: انداختن andâxtan, ریختن rixtan
shed in Thai: เก๋ง gěng, ซอง sɔɔng, ตูบ dtùup
shed in Vietnamese: lán
shed in Myanmar: တဲ tai:

Examples of shed in a sentence

A metal comb shed her golden hair.
We are shed with each other by an enormous distance.
White oats are apt to shed most as they lie, and black as they stand.1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for...
The crash occurred in a steep-sided cutting lined with self-seeded deciduous trees that were shedding their leaves, following unusually heavy rain and high winds in the 12 hours beforehand.2023 November 1, Paul Clifton, “RAIB recommends actions to tackle leaves on the line”, in RAIL, number 995, page 10:

All 40 example sentences with shed

Synonyms of shed

12 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of shed

Forms of shed

Verb
third-person singular present	sheds
present participle	shedding
past participle	shed
past	shed
past participle	shedded
past	shedded
past participle (nonstandard)	shedded
past (nonstandard)	shedded
Noun
plural	sheds
alternative form	shode
alternative form	shead
alternative form	shede
Proper noun
plural	Sheds

Past tense of shed: shed

Plural of shed: sheds

Origin of shed

From Middle English scheden, schede, from Old English scēadan, scādan (“to separate, divide, part, make a line of separation between; remove from association or companionship; distinguish, discriminate, decide, determine, appoint; shatter, shed; expound; decree; write down; differ”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaiþan, from Proto-Germanic *skaiþaną (compare West Frisian skiede, Dutch and German scheiden), from Proto-Indo-European *skeyt- (“to cut, part, divide, separate”), from *skey-. See also Irish scian (“knife”), Lithuanian skėsti (“to spread”), ski̇́esti (“to separate”), Old Church Slavonic цѣдити (cěditi, “to filter, strain”), Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”), Old Armenian ցտեմ (cʻtem, “to scratch”), Sanskrit च्यति (cyáti, “he cuts off”)). Related to shoad, shit, sheath.

From Middle English sched, schede, schad, from a combination of Old English scēada (“a parting of the hair, top of the head”) and Old English ġesċēad (“distinction, reason”).

Dialectal variant of a specialized use of shade.

Words formed from shed

Phrases with shed

2 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with shed

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about shed

What does shed mean?: Shed means to part, separate or divide.
What is shed in Hindi?: Shed in Hindi is कुटिया (kuṭiyā), कुटी (kuṭī), झोंपड़ी (jhõpṛī). See Shed meaning in Hindi.
How do you use shed in a sentence?: A metal comb shed her golden hair.
What part of speech is shed?: Shed can be a verb, a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce shed?: Shed is pronounced /ʃɛd/.
What is the past tense of shed?: The past tense of shed is shed.

Words near shed in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: shed (page history and authors); SHED (page history and authors); Shed (page history and authors); shed (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); shed (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); shed (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); shed (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); shed (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-shed.ogg.

Cite this entry: “shed.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shed. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.