Wiktionary

shrug

English edit

 
A person wearing a shrug, highlighted in pink

Etymology edit

From Middle English schruggen, shrukken, probably of North Germanic origin related to Danish skrugge, skrukke (“to stoop; crouch”), Swedish skruga, skrukka (“to huddle; crouch”), all from or related to Old Norse skrykkva, from Proto-Germanic *skrinkwaną. Compare also Old English scrincan (“to shrink”). More at shrink.

Pronunciation edit

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ʃɹʌɡ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌɡ

Noun edit

shrug (plural shrugs)

  1. A lifting of the shoulders to signal indifference or a casual lack of knowledge.
    He dismissed my comment with a shrug.
  2. A cropped, cardigan-like garment with short or long sleeves, typically knitted.

Translations edit

Verb edit

shrug (third-person singular simple present shrugs, present participle shrugging, simple past and past participle shrugged)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To raise (the shoulders) to express uncertainty, lack of concern, (formerly) dread, etc.
    I asked him for an answer and he just shrugged.
    When he saw the problem, he just shrugged and started fixing it.

Usage notes edit

The word "shrug" and "shrug one's shoulders" have the same meaning.

Derived terms edit

Translations edit


See also edit

Anagrams edit

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