shaw
/ʃɔ/noun, interjection
shaw is spelled S-H-A-W: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,230th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shaw means “A thicket; a small wood or grove” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shaw is shaws.
How many letters and syllables are in shaw?
| Letters | 4: S-H-A-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 12 times per million words; the 6,230th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is shaw?
Shaw appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,230th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce shaw?
- UK /ʃɔː/
- US /ʃɔ/
- /ʃɑ/
Shaw has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-shaw.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with shaw
Sounds like: shore, sure, zzxjoanw (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with shaw?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as shaw from its last stressed vowel (/ɔ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: wash.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of shaw
- shaws plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shaw mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
datedA thicket; a small wood or grove.
- 2
ScotlandThe leaves and tops of vegetables, especially potatoes and turnips.
interjection
- 1
slangA kind of battle cry or warning.
- 2
Censored spelling of shit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shaw in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense small wood:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does shaw come from?
From Old English sċeaga, scaga. Cognate with Old Norse skógr (“forest, wood”), whence Danish skov (“forest”). Doublet of scaw.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).