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PlainSpell

shred

/ʃɹɛd/noun, verb, adjective

shred is spelled S-H-R-E-D: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shred means “A fragment of something; a particle; a piece; also, a very small amount” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shred is shreds.

How many letters and syllables are in shred?

Letters5: S-H-R-E-D
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.1 times per million words; the 19,077th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
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 shred?

Shred appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 19,077th 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 shred?

  • US /ʃɹɛd/

Shred 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: En-au-shred.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with shred?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as shred from its last stressed vowel (/ɛd/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: sherd.

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 shred

  • shreds plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • shredding participle, present
  • shredded past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • more shred comparative
  • most shred superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does shred mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A fragment of something; a particle; a piece; also, a very small amount.

    There isn’t a shred of evidence to support his claims.

  2. 2

    A long, narrow piece (especially of fabric) cut or torn off; a strip; specifically, a piece of cloth or clothing.

  3. 3

    A thin strand or wisp, as of a cloud, mist, etc.

  4. 4

    A thin strip of fruit peel, a vegetable, etc., cut so that it curls.

  5. 5

    archaicA piece of gold or silver lace or thread.

  6. 6

    rareA shard or sherd (“a piece of broken glass or pottery”).

  7. 7

    obsoleteA tailor.

verb

  1. 1

    To cut or tear (something) into long, narrow pieces or strips.

  2. 2

    To destroy (a document) by cutting or tearing into strips or small pieces that cannot easily be read, especially using a shredder.

  3. 3

    To cut (fruit peel, a vegetable, etc.) into thin strips that curl.

  4. 4

    To separate (something) into small portions.

  5. 5

    slangTo reduce (something) by a large percentage; to slash.

  6. 6

    slangChiefly in rock and heavy metal: to play (a musical instrument (especially a guitar) or a piece of music) very fast and in a way that requires technical skill.

  7. 7

    slangTo cut through (snow, water, etc.) swiftly with one's snowboard, surfboard, etc.; (by extension) to move or ride along (a road, track, etc.) aggressively and rapidly.

  8. 8

    slangTo convincingly defeat (someone); to thrash, to trounce.

adjective

  1. 1

    Synonym of shredded (“cut or torn into narrow strips or small pieces”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Shred in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanFitzel, Fitzelchen, winziges Stückchen, Schnipsel, Schnitzel (fragment of something; very small amount – see…), Lumpen (a long, narrow piece cut or torn off – see also…)
Frenchlambeau (a long, narrow piece cut or torn off – see also…), couper, déchiqueter, dilacérer, lacérer, râper (to cut or tear (something) into long, narrow…)
Spanishtriza, tira, brizna, brinza (a long, narrow piece cut or torn off – see also…), triturar, trocear (to cut or tear (something) into long, narrow…)
Portuguesetrinchar (to cut or tear (something) into long, narrow…)

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 shred come from?

From Middle English shrede, shred (“fragment, piece, scrap; piece cut off from something; strip of material; ornamental strip hanging from the edge of a garment; thread; band or thread woven in a garment; element, streak; plant (?)”) [and other forms], from Late Old English sċrēad, sċrēade (“piece cut off from something; a paring; a shred”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudō (“a piece, shred; a crack; a cut”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”). Doublet of escrow.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after shred