The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

burgeon, flourish, grow, spring up, mushroom, develop: Owing to the perfect weather, the corn shot up very quickly.

--n. 5 sprout, stem, bud, branch, offshoot, slip, scion, sucker: If you want fruit, the new shoots have to be pinched back.

shop n. 1 store, boutique, department store: Would you stop at the shop and buy some lettuce? 2 workshop, machine shop: Henry gained experience in operating a lathe at my father's shop.

--v. 3 betray, inform on or against, Slang peach on, rat on, snitch on, blow the whistle on: The police persuaded Luke to shop his accomplices in exchange for a lighter sentence. 4 shop for. buy, purchase, seek, look for, research: I've been shopping for a new dishwasher.

short adj. 1 small, little, slight, petite, diminutive, wee, tiny,

elfin, minuscule; midget, dwarfish, squat, dumpy, runty, stubby, stunted, Colloq pint-sized, knee-high to a grasshopper, sawn-off: Did you know that Queen Victoria was quite short? 2 shortened, brief, concise, compressed, compendious, compact, pocket, US vest-pocket; abbreviated, abridged, cut: A short version of the book was published in paperback. 3 laconic, terse, succinct, pithy, sententious, epigrammatic: He made a few short remarks that were very much to the point. 4 abrupt, curt, terse, sharp, blunt, bluff, brusque, sharp, offhand,

gruff, testy, snappish, discourteous, uncivil, impolite: It is unnecessary to be so short with the staff. 5 direct, straight, straightforward, short and sweet: In reply to your request for permission to leave early, the short answer is 'No'. 6 Usually, short of. deficient (in), lacking (in), needful (of), wanting, inadequate, shy (of), low (on): The hotel is short of clean linen because the laundry failed to deliver. 7 brief, limited; transitory, temporary, short-lived, momentary, quick, transient: HQ had a short life but a happy one. I'll just make a short stop in here and will join you in a moment. 8 impecunious, straitened, pinched, underfunded, poor, penniless, deficient: I'm a bit short today and wonder if you could lend me some money? 9 in short supply. rare, scarce, scanty, unplentiful, meagre, sparse, Colloq chiefly Brit thin on the ground: Good editors are in short supply these days. 10 short of. before, failing, excluding, exclusive of, barring, eliminating,

precluding, excepting, except for, leaving out, apart from, setting aside: Short of killing him, I am not sure what she could have done in the circumstances.

--adv. 11 abruptly, suddenly, peremptorily, without warning, instantly, unexpectedly, hurriedly, hastily, out of the blue:

She stopped short in the middle of the road and made me get out. 12 cut short. a trim, curtail, shorten, abbreviate, cut: I

must cut my visit short because I have a train to catch. b stop, cut off, terminate, cut in on, break in on, interrupt; butt in: I am sorry to cut you short, but it is getting on for midnight. 13 fall or come short. fail, be or prove inadequate or insufficient: These grades fall short of our expectations, Bobby.

--n. 14 in short. briefly, in a word, all in all, to make a long story short, in a nutshell: He told me, in short, that there was no job and there never had been one. 15 shorts.

Bermuda shorts, knee-breeches, knee-pants, hot pants: I usually wear shorts to play tennis.

shortage n. deficit, deficiency, shortfall, dearth, scarcity, lack, want, paucity: They are predicting a shortage of water again this summer.

shortcoming

n. failure, defect, deficiency, weakness, frailty, drawback, liability, imperfection, weak point, flaw: One might justifiably regard colour-blindness as a shortcoming in an interior decorator.

shorten v. 1 cut, curtail, cut off or down or short, reduce, diminish, trim; lop off, dock, prune; hem: Please shorten the time you spend in the bathroom in the mornings. This skirt has already been shortened. 2 condense, abridge, abbreviate, digest, compress: Can one shorten the book without losing too much of the characterization?

short-lived

adj. ephemeral, evanescent, temporary, fleeting, transitory, transient, passing, fugacious, volatile: He enjoyed a short-lived reputation that died with him.

shortly adv. 1 soon, presently, anon, before long, in a (little) while, by and by, Archaic ere long: I'll see you shortly. 2 just, immediately, soon, right: We had dinner with him shortly before he went abroad. 3 abruptly, briefly, peremptorily, curtly, brusquely, sharply, tersely, testily, gruffly, rudely, tartly:

'Leave me alone', said Bill shortly.

short-sighted

adj. 1 near-sighted, myopic, dim-sighted: He wears thick spectacles because he's so short-sighted. 2 unimaginative, unprogressive, improvident, imprudent, injudicious, rash, brash, impulsive, reckless, impolitic, limited, unwary, incautious, careless, thoughtless, unmindful: Lewis's short-sighted view makes no provision for the future.

short-staffed

adj. undermanned, short-handed, understaffed: We are usually short-staffed during the summer because of the holiday schedules.

short-tempered

adj. testy, irascible, short, curt, abrupt, gruff, peremptory, bluff, rude, tart, acid, acidulous, terse, brusque, crabbed, crabby, irritable, touchy, petulant, peevish, bearish, snappish, waspish, shrewish, curmudgeonly, crusty, surly, discourteous, grouchy, disagreeable, caustic, acrimonious, acerbic: Henry is often short-tempered if he has slept badly.

short-winded

adj. short of or out of breath, winded, breathless, panting, huffing (and puffing), gasping (for air or for breath),

Technical dyspnoeal: He is very short-winded because he smokes too much.

some excellent action shots using stroboscopic lighting. 6 injection, inoculation, vaccination: The doctor gave me a flu shot this morning. 7 drink, jigger, tot, dram, nip, spot, swallow, Colloq finger, swig, slug, snort: Will you have a shot

of whisky with me, Muldoon? 8 (space) launch or launching: The moon shot scheduled for today has been postponed owing to technical difficulties. 9 call the shots. run or direct or

manage or administer or control things or affairs or matters, run the show, rule the roost, be in command or the driver's seat: Ravelli calls the shots around here, and don't you forget it. 10 like a shot. quickly, swiftly, rapidly, speedily, hurriedly, hastily, at once, like a flash, immediately, instantly, instantaneously, Colloq in two shakes of a lamb's tail, like greased lightning, before you can say 'Jack Robinson': All I had to do was mention ice-cream, and the children were in here like a shot. 11 (not) by a long shot. no

way, under no circumstances, by no means, on no account, by no chance, never: You ask if he can get elected and my response is, 'Not by a long shot'. 12 shot in the arm. boost, stimulus, encouragement, incentive, inducement, provocation, motivation: The team needs a shot in the arm to improve morale.

shoulder n. 1 side, edge, verge, margin; breakdown lane: If you have a flat tyre, drive onto the hard shoulder and phone for help. 2

give (someone) the cold shoulder. rebuff, snub, ostracize, send (someone) to Coventry, cold-shoulder, put (someone) down, reject, exclude, freeze (someone) out, shun, avoid, Colloq cut (dead): After his court case, they gave Nicholas the cold shoulder at his club. 3 put (one's or the) shoulder to the

wheel. make every effort, make an effort, strive, work hard, pitch in, apply oneself, roll up one's sleeves, set or get to

work, Colloq knuckle down, buckle down: If we put our shoulders to the wheel, we ought to be able to get our candidate elected.

4 rub shoulders (with). associate (with), hobnob (with), socialize (with), consort (with), mix (with), fraternize (with),

keep company (with): Once in a while, she condescends to come down and rub shoulders with the common people. 5 shoulder to shoulder. side by side, united, as one, cooperatively, jointly,

arm in arm, hand in hand, in partnership: If we fight shoulder

to shoulder, we can defeat this menace and regain our freedom. 6 straight from the shoulder. directly, straightforwardly,

candidly, frankly, honestly, openly, unabashedly, unashamedly, unambiguously, unequivocally, plainly, bluntly, man to man,

showing there tomorrow? 10 grant, accord, bestow: They finally showed mercy and let the hostages go. 11 show off. make an exhibit or a spectacle of, flaunt, advertise, display, parade;

pose, swagger, posture, boast, brag, US and Canadian grandstand: They invited us to show off their new house. Quilty shows off too much for my taste. 12 show up. a expose, give away, reveal: His collection of animal trophies shows him up for what he

really is. b stand out, be conspicuous, be noticeable, contrast: The white dress shows up nicely against your suntan. c embarrass, (put to) shame, mortify, upstage, overshadow, outshine, eclipse: John only runs in the marathon to show me up.

--n. 13 display, demonstration, exhibition, exposition, fair, presentation, Colloq expo: There will be a computer show at the convention centre next week. 14 production, presentation, drama, musical, entertainment: We flew to New York for a week to see a few Broadway shows. 15 ostentation, display, appearance, pretentiousness, pretension, affectation: Those paintings are there just for show, not because they enjoy art.

showdown n. confrontation, climax, moment of truth, final settlement, moment of decision, US face-off: It's come to the point where we must have a showdown about who's boss.

shower n. 1 sprinkle, sprinkling, drizzle: Scattered showers are predicted for this afternoon. 2 deluge, torrent, flood, stream, barrage, overflow, abundance, profusion: Showers of confetti rained on the parade from the offices.

--v. 3 sprinkle, rain, pour, spray, bombard, fall, descend, drop: Debris and ash from the volcano showered down on the village. 4 lavish, inundate, overwhelm, heap, load (down): On

return from her triumphant tour, Sylvia was showered with gifts and praise.

showman n. producer, impresario, director: P. T. Barnum was possibly the greatest showman in modern history.

show-off n. braggart, exhibitionist, swaggerer, egotist, boaster, Colloq blowhard, windbag: Sit down and stop being such a show-off, Tetsworth.

shrank because you washed it in hot water. 2 Often, shrink from. withdraw (from), draw back, recoil (from), back away (from), retreat (from), cower, cringe, flinch, shy away (from), wince, balk (at): Once committed to a responsibility, nothing could persuade Ella to shrink from it.

shrivel v. Often, shrivel up. shrink, wrinkle, pucker (up), curl (up), wizen, contract; wither, wilt, dry up, desiccate, dehydrate: The soil had dried up and all the plants had shrivelled.

shroud v. 1 screen, veil, mask, disguise, camouflage, cover, shield, blanket, shade, hide, conceal, protect, cloak, swathe, wrap, envelop: The tanks were shrouded from view in the forest. His activities are shrouded in mystery.

--n. 2 winding-sheet, cerement, cerecloth, grave-clothes: They wrapped his body in a shroud and buried him in the churchyard. 3 veil, cover, shield, cloak, blanket, mask, mantle, pall,

screen, covering, cloud: A shroud of secrecy descended over the Morocco affair.

shrubbery n. shrubs, planting(s), hedge(s), hedging, hedgerow, thicket, underbrush, brake, bracken, undergrowth, coppice or copse: The fox lay low in the shrubbery till the dogs flushed him out.

shudder v. 1 quiver, shake, tremble, shiver, jerk, convulse, quaver, quake; vibrate, rattle: I shudder to think what he might do

next. Olive slammed on the brakes and the ancient car shuddered to a stop.

--n. 2 quiver, shake, tremble, twitch, shiver, convulsion, paroxysm, spasm, quaver, quake; vibration, rattle: He gave a shudder at the prospect of having to clean out the stable.

shuffle v. 1 mix (up), intermix, disarrange, rearrange, interfile, intersperse, jumble, confuse; shift (about), mess up, turn topsy-turvy, scatter, disorganize: I shall cut the cards after

you have shuffled them. Osbert shuffled the papers on his desk. 2 scuff or drag (one's feet), scrape along, shamble: The boy shuffled into the headmaster's office, guilt written all over

his face. 3 equivocate, hem and haw, bumble, shift, cavil, fence, be evasive or shifty, dodge, niggle, split hairs, quibble, prevaricate, Brit hum and haw, Colloq waffle: The

withdrawing, reserved, timid, meek, modest, sheepish, unconfident, self-conscious, introverted, nervous, apprehensive, timorous, Rare verecund: Casey is quite shy and you have to draw him out gently. 2 timorous, cautious, wary, chary, leery, guarded, afraid, fearful, frightened, anxious, worried, suspicious, distrustful, cowardly, craven, uncourageous: The local people are shy of anyone or anything unfamiliar. 3 missing, lacking, deficient in, short of: The shipment is shy a few dozen shoelaces we ordered.

--adv. 4 fight shy of. avoid, be unwilling or reluctant or averse or loath or loth or disinclined or not disposed; be wary or cautious or watchful: The children fight shy of talking to strangers.

19.5 sick...

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