shed

Etymology 1

From Middle English scheden, schede, from Old English scēadan, scādan (“to separate, divide, part, make a line of separation between; remove from association or companionship; distinguish, discriminate, decide, determine, appoint; shatter, shed; expound; decree; write down; differ”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaiþan, from Proto-Germanic *skaiþaną (compare West Frisian skiede, Dutch and German scheiden), from Proto-Indo-European *skeyt- (“to cut, part, divide, separate”), from *skey-. See also Welsh chwydu (“to break open”), Lithuanian skėsti (“to spread”), skíesti (“to separate”), Old Church Slavonic цѣдити (cěditi, “to filter, strain”), Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”), Old Armenian ցտեմ (cʿtem, “to scratch”), Sanskrit च्यति (cyáti, “he cuts off”)). Related to shoad, shit.

verb

1. (transitive, obsolete, UK, dialectal) To part, separate or divide.
   To shed something in two.
   To shed the sheep from the lambs.
   A metal comb shed her golden hair.
   We are shed with each other by an enormous distance.
   c. 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer, Boece If there be any thing that knitteth himself to the ilk middle point [of a circle], it is constrained into simplicity (that is to say, into unmovablity), and it ceaseth to be shed and to flit diversely.
   1460–1500, The Poems of Robert Henryson The northern wind had shed the misty clouds from the sky;
   1635, "Sermon on Philippians III, 7, 8", in Select Practical Writings of David Dickson (1845), Volume 1, page 166 Internet Archive Lest […] ye shed with God.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To part with, separate from, leave off; cast off, let fall, be divested of.
   You must shed your fear of the unknown before you can proceed.
   When we found the snake, it was in the process of shedding its skin.
   She called on all the marathoners to go to Staten Island to help with the clean-up effort and to bring the clothes they would have shed at the start to shelters or other places where displaced people were in need. November 2 2012, Ken Belson, New York Times, retrieved 2012-11-02
3. (transitive, archaic) To pour; to make flow.
4. (transitive) To allow to flow or fall.
   I didn't shed many tears when he left me.
   A tarpaulin sheds water.
5. (transitive) To radiate, cast, give off (light).
   to shed light on
   Can you shed any light on this problem?
6. (obsolete, transitive) To pour forth, give off, impart.
7. (obsolete, intransitive) To fall in drops; to pour.
8. To sprinkle; to intersperse; to cover.
9. (weaving) To divide, as the warp threads, so as to form a shed, or passageway, for the shuttle.

Etymology 2

From Middle English sched, schede, schad, from a combination of Old English scēada (“a parting of the hair, top of the head”) and Old English ġesċēad (“distinction, reason”).

noun

1. (weaving) An area between upper and lower warp yarns through which the weft is woven.
2. (obsolete) A distinction or dividing-line.
3. (obsolete) A parting in the hair.
4. (obsolete) The top of the head.
5. (obsolete) An area of land as distinguished from those around it.
6. (physics) A unit of area equivalent to 10⁻⁵² square meters; used in nuclear physics

Etymology 3

Dialectal variant of a specialized use of shade.

noun

1. A slight or temporary structure built to shade or shelter something; a structure usually open in front; an outbuilding; a hut.
   wagon shed
   wood shed
   garden shed
   There are numerous sheds in the now grass-grown yard, most of which now house threshing machines and farm carts instead of locomotives and rolling stock, although [in] the roofs of some are gaping holes. 1941 June, “Notes and News: The Derelict Glyn Valley Tramway”, in Railway Magazine, pages 279–280
2. A large temporary open structure for reception of goods.
3. (Britain, derogatory, informal) An automobile which is old, worn-out, slow, or otherwise of poor quality.
4. (Britain, rail transport) A British Rail Class 66 locomotive.
   Never saw that but we did stand and watch a pair of Sheds (156 and 165) speed north on a loaded steel. 11-12-2000, Bruce Garbutt, “Re: DRS to Cardiff (was Re: Tractor via Eddiestown)”, in uk.railway (Usenet)

verb

1. (transitive) To place or allocate a vehicle, such as a locomotive, in or to a depot or shed.
   On the Dava line, apart from the banking assistance given by the 4-4-0s, the traffic is handled by the standard class "5" 4-6-0s, known among the drivers as "Hikers"; these engines are shedded at Inverness and Perth. 1944 January and February, W. McGowan Gradon, “Forres as a Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 23
   Three 14XX class 0-4-2Ts were allocated to Bath Road for the Clevedon branch and one was sub-shedded at Yatton for a week at a time, during which period it amassed an aggregate mileage of nearly 1,400 miles. 1961 May, Mark B. Warburton, “Yatton and its branches to Clevedon and Wells”, in Trains Illustrated, page 277
2. (transitive, music) To woodshed.