Word.ws English Dictionary

shrives

shrives is the third-person singular simple present indicative of shrive.

Meaning of shrive

Verb

shrive (third-person singular simple present shrives, present participle shriving, simple past shrove or shrived, past participle shriven or shrived)

  1. (intransitive, transitive) To hear or receive a confession (of sins etc.).
    • If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  2. (transitive) To free from guilt, to absolve.
    • I will not madly deem that power
      Of Earth may shrive me of the sin
      Unearthly pride hath revell’d in— […]1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems
  3. (transitive) To prescribe penance or absolution.
  4. (intransitive, reflexive) To confess, and receive absolution.
    • 'Twas a good thought, boy, to come here and shrive.c. 1798-1845, unknown author, The Croppy Boy

See all 5 meanings of shrive

Questions about shrives

What is shrives the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Shrives is the third-person singular simple present indicative of shrive.

Words near shrives in the dictionary

  1. shrivels up
  2. shriven
  3. Shrivenham
  4. shriver
  5. shrivers
  6. shrives
  7. shrivest
  8. shriveth
  9. shriving
  10. shriving-time
  11. shrivings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shrives (page history and authors); shrive (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.

Last updated:

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