2 MODAL You use shall , usually with 'I' and 'we', when you are referring to something that you intend to do, or when you are referring to something that you are sure will happen to you in the future. □ We shall be landing in Paris in sixteen minutes, exactly on time. □ I shall know more next month, I hope. □ I shall miss him terribly.
3 MODAL You use shall with 'I' or 'we' during a speech or piece of writing to say what you are going to discuss or explain later. [FORMAL ] □ In Chapter 3, I shall describe some of the documentation that I gathered.
4 MODAL You use shall to indicate that something must happen, usually because of a rule or law. You use shall not to indicate that something must not happen. □ The president shall hold office for five years.
5 MODAL You use shall , usually with 'you', when you are telling someone that they will be able to do or have something they want. □ 'I want to hear all the gossip, all the scandal.'—'You shall, dearie, you shall!'
6 MODAL You use shall with verbs such as 'look forward to' and 'hope' to say politely that you are looking forward to something or hoping to do something. [FORMAL , POLITENESS ] □ Well, we shall look forward to seeing him tomorrow.
7 MODAL You use shall when you are referring to the likely result or consequence of a particular action or situation. □ When large finance companies cut down on their entertainments, we shall know that times really are hard.
shal|lot /ʃəlɒ t/ (shallots ) N‑VAR [usu pl] Shallots are small round vegetables that are the roots of a crop and are similar to onions. They have a strong taste and are used for flavouring other food.
shal|low /ʃæ loʊ/ (shallower , shallowest )
1 ADJ A shallow container, hole, or area of water measures only a short distance from the top to the bottom. □ Put the milk in a shallow dish. □ The water is quite shallow for some distance.
2 ADJ If you describe a person, piece of work, or idea as shallow , you disapprove of them because they do not show or involve any serious or careful thought. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ I think he is shallow, vain and untrustworthy.
3 ADJ If your breathing is shallow , you take only a very small amount of air into your lungs at each breath. □ She began to hear her own taut, shallow breathing.
shal|lows /ʃæ loʊz/ N‑PLURAL The shallows are the shallow part of an area of water. □ At dusk more fish come into the shallows.
shalt /ʃəlt, STRONG ʃælt/ MODAL Shalt is an old-fashioned form of shall . □ Thou shalt not kill.
sham /ʃæ m/ (shams ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] Something that is a sham is not real or is not really what it seems to be. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ The government's promises were exposed as a hollow sham.
sham|an /ʃe I mən/ (shamans )
1 N‑COUNT A shaman is a priest or priestess in shamanism.
2 N‑COUNT Among some Native American peoples, a shaman is a person who is believed to have powers to heal sick people or to remove evil spirits from them.
sham|an|ism /ʃe I məm I zəm/ N‑UNCOUNT Shamanism is a religion which is based on the belief that the world is controlled by good and evil spirits, and that these spirits can be directed by people with special powers.
sham|bles /ʃæ mb ə lz/ N‑SING If a place, event, or situation is a shambles or is in a shambles , everything is in disorder. □ The ship's interior was an utter shambles. □ The economy is in a shambles.
sham|bo|lic /ʃæmbɒ l I k/ ADJ If you describe a situation, person, or place as shambolic , you mean that they are very disorganized. [BRIT ] □ …a shambolic public relations disaster.
shame ◆◇◇ /ʃe I m/ (shames , shaming , shamed )
1 N‑UNCOUNT Shame is an uncomfortable feeling that you get when you have done something wrong or embarrassing, or when someone close to you has. □ She felt a deep sense of shame. □ I was, to my shame, a coward.
2 N‑UNCOUNT If someone brings shame on you, they make other people lose their respect for you. □ I don't want to bring shame on the family name.
3 VERB If something shames you, it causes you to feel shame. □ [V n] Her son's affair had humiliated and shamed her.
4 VERB If you shame someone into doing something, you force them to do it by making them feel ashamed not to. □ [V n + into/out of ] He would not let neighbours shame him into silence.
5 N‑SING If you say that something is a shame , you are expressing your regret about it and indicating that you wish it had happened differently. [FEELINGS ] □ It's a crying shame that police have to put up with these mindless attacks.
6 CONVENTION You can use shame in expressions such as shame on you and shame on him to indicate that someone ought to feel shame for something they have said or done. [FEELINGS ] □ He tried to deny it. Shame on him!
7 PHRASE If someone puts you to shame , they make you feel ashamed because they do something much better than you do. □ His playing really put me to shame.
shame|faced /ʃe I mfe I st, [AM ] -fe I st/ ADJ If you are shamefaced , you feel embarrassed because you have done something that you know you should not have done. [FORMAL ] □ There was a long silence, and my father looked shamefaced.
shame|ful /ʃe I mfʊl/ ADJ If you describe a person's action or attitude as shameful , you think that it is so bad that the person ought to be ashamed. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ …the most shameful episode in U.S. naval history. ● shame|ful|ly ADV [ADV with v, ADV adj] □ At times they have been shamefully neglected.