3 VERB When a tree sheds its leaves, its leaves fall off in the autumn. When an animal sheds hair or skin, some of its hair or skin drops off. □ [V n] Some of the trees were already beginning to shed their leaves.
4 VERB To shed something means to get rid of it. [FORMAL ] □ [V n] The firm is to shed 700 jobs.
5 VERB If a lorry sheds its load, the goods that it is carrying accidentally fall onto the road. [mainly BRIT ] □ [V n] A lorry piled with scrap metal had shed its load.
6 VERB If you shed tears, you cry. □ [V n] They will shed a few tears at their daughter's wedding.
7 VERB To shed blood means to kill people in a violent way. If someone sheds their blood, they are killed in a violent way, usually when they are fighting in a war. [FORMAL ] □ [V n] They bear responsibility for shedding the blood of innocent civilians.
8 to shed light on something → see light ➊
she'd /ʃiːd, ʃ I d/
1 She'd is the usual spoken form of 'she had', especially when 'had' is an auxiliary verb. □ She'd rung up to discuss the party.
2 She'd is a spoken form of 'she would'. □ She'd do anything for a bit of money.
sheen /ʃiː n/ N‑SING [oft adj N ] If something has a sheen , it has a smooth and gentle brightness on its surface. □ The carpet had a silvery sheen to it.
sheep /ʃiː p/ (sheep )
1 N‑COUNT A sheep is a farm animal which is covered with thick curly hair called wool. Sheep are kept for their wool or for their meat. □ …grassland on which a flock of sheep were grazing.
2 N‑PLURAL [usu like N ] If you say that a group of people are like sheep , you disapprove of them because if one person does something, all the others copy that person. [DISAPPROVAL ]
3 → see also black sheep
sheep|dog /ʃiː pdɒg/ (sheepdogs ) N‑COUNT A sheepdog is a breed of dog. Some sheepdogs are used for controlling sheep.
sheep|ish /ʃiː p I ʃ/ ADJ If you look sheepish , you look slightly embarrassed because you feel foolish or you have done something silly. □ The couple leapt apart when she walked in on them and later came downstairs looking sheepish.
sheep|skin /ʃiː psk I n/ (sheepskins ) N‑VAR [oft N n] Sheepskin is the skin of a sheep with the wool still attached to it, used especially for making coats and rugs. □ …a sheepskin coat.
sheer /ʃ I ə r / (sheerer , sheerest )
1 ADJ [ADJ n] You can use sheer to emphasize that a state or situation is complete and does not involve or is not mixed with anything else. [EMPHASIS ] □ His music is sheer delight. □ Sheer chance quite often plays an important part in sparking off an idea.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] A sheer cliff or drop is extremely steep or completely vertical. □ There was a sheer drop just outside my window.
3 ADJ Sheer material is very thin, light, and delicate. □ …sheer black tights.
sheet ◆◇◇ /ʃiː t/ (sheets )
1 N‑COUNT A sheet is a large rectangular piece of cotton or other cloth that you sleep on or cover yourself with in a bed. □ Once a week, a maid changes the sheets.
2 N‑COUNT A sheet of paper is a rectangular piece of paper. □ [+ of ] …a sheet of newspaper. □ I was able to fit it all on one sheet.
3 N‑COUNT [usu n N ] You can use sheet to refer to a piece of paper which gives information about something. □ [+ on ] …information sheets on each country in the world.
4 N‑COUNT A sheet of glass, metal, or wood is a large, flat, thin piece of it. □ [+ of ] …a cracked sheet of glass. □ [+ of ] Overhead, cranes were lifting giant sheets of steel.
5 N‑COUNT A sheet of something is a thin wide layer of it over the surface of something else. □ [+ of ] …a sheet of ice. □ [+ of ] …a blue-grey sheet of dust.
6 → see also balance sheet , broadsheet , dust sheet , fact sheet , groundsheet , news-sheet , scoresheet , spreadsheet , worksheet
7 as white as a sheet → see white
sheet|ing /ʃiː t I ŋ/ N‑UNCOUNT [oft n N ] Sheeting is metal, plastic, or other material that is made in the form of sheets. □ They put plastic sheeting on the insides of our windows.
shee t met|al N‑UNCOUNT Sheet metal is metal which has been made into thin sheets.
shee t mu|sic N‑UNCOUNT Sheet music is music that is printed on sheets of paper without a hard cover. □ We were forbidden to bring sheet music, so I played from memory.
sheikh /ʃe I k, [AM ] ʃiː k/ (sheikhs ) N‑TITLE ; N‑COUNT A sheikh is a male Arab chief or ruler. □ …Sheikh Khalifa. □ …the sheik's role in global oil affairs.
sheikh|dom /ʃe I kdəm, [AM ] ʃiː k-/ (sheikhdoms ) also sheikdom N‑COUNT A sheikhdom is a country or region that is ruled by a sheikh.
shelf /ʃe lf/ (shelves )
1 N‑COUNT A shelf is a flat piece of wood, metal, or glass which is attached to a wall or to the sides of a cupboard. Shelves are used for keeping things on. □ He took a book from the shelf. □ …the middle shelf of the oven.
2 N‑COUNT A shelf is a section of rock on a cliff or mountain or underwater that sticks out like a shelf. □ [+ of ] The house stands on a shelf of rock among pines.