Library / English Dictionary

SHRUG

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: shrugged    , shrugging   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A gesture involving the shoulders

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("shrug" is a kind of...):

gesture; motion (the use of movements (especially of the hands) to communicate familiar or prearranged signals)

Derivation:

shrug (raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "shrug" is one way to...):

gesticulate; gesture; motion (show, express or direct through movement)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Also:

shrug off (minimize the importance of, brush aside)

Derivation:

shrug (a gesture involving the shoulders)

Credits

 Context examples: 

John Knightley looked at him with amazement, then shrugged his shoulders, and said, “I could not have believed it even of him.”

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

She turned from him with a pretty shrug and wave.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Both men looked expectantly at Mr. White, but that gentleman laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I shrugged my shoulders, however, and rested silent, for Van Helsing had a way of going on his own road, no matter who remonstrated.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He sat on the step of his cabin and stared at the dog-musher, who responded with a shrug that was equally hopeless.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He means well: but you shrug your shoulders to hear him talk?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Negore thought of the little birds he had seen perched among the rocks and upon the bushes, and smiled, it was so simple; but he shrugged his shoulders and made no answer.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He shook it and grinned sheepishly at the courier, who shrugged his shoulders in sign that they were beaten.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Yet, although that was the case, every man on board the boats had picked a favourite of his own ere we were half-way over, Long John alone shrugging his shoulders and bidding them wait till they were there.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Isabella shrugged her shoulders and smiled, the only explanation of this extraordinary change which could at that time be given; but as it was not quite enough for Catherine's comprehension, she spoke her astonishment in very plain terms to her partner.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)