shoulder

Etymology

From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sculdra, sculdor (“shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuldru (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cognate with Old Frisian skuldere (“shoulder”) (West Frisian skouder (“shoulder”)), Middle Low German scholder (“shoulder”), Low German Schuller (“shoulder”), Dutch schouder (“shoulder”), German Schulter (“shoulder”).

noun

1. The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and forearm socket.
   1. The part of the human torso forming a relatively horizontal surface running away from the neck.
      The parrot was sitting on Steve's shoulder.
   2. (anatomy) The joint between the arm and the torso, sometimes including the surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
   3. A cut of meat comprising the upper joint of the foreleg and the surrounding muscle.
   4. The portion of a garment where the shoulder is clothed.
2. Anything forming a shape resembling a human shoulder.
3. (topography) A shelf between two levels.
   1. A usually unsealed strip of land bordering a road, where vehicles can drive or park in an emergency.
      He stopped the car on the shoulder of the highway to change the flat tire.
      The shoulders are graded and the verges cleared well back to lessen the chances of hitting stray stock. 2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 129
   2. The portion of a hill or mountain just below the peak.
   3. A lateral protrusion of a hill or mountain.
      I certainly was not prepared for the cosy nestling valleys that snuggled against the shoulders of the hills; a land where the graystone cottages and farmsteads still prevailed, but where they had taken on something of the softness of their kind in Gloucester and the Cotswolds, and seemed almost like growths of the soil; […]. 1949 January and February, F. G. Roe, “I Saw Three Englands–1”, in Railway Magazine, page 12
   4. The angle of a bastion included between the face and flank.
   5. An abrupt projection which forms an abutment on an object, or limits motion, etc., such as the projection around a tenon at the end of a piece of timber.
4. (printing) The flat portion of type that is below the bevelled portion that joins up with the face.
5. (of an object) The portion between the neck and the body.
   1. (music) The rounded portion of a stringed instrument where the neck joins the body.
   2. The rounded portion of a bottle where the neck meets the body.
   3. (firearms) The angled section between the neck and the main body of a cartridge.
6. (figurative) That which supports or sustains; support.
7. The part of a key between the cuts and the bow.
8. (surfing) The part of a wave that has not yet broken.
9. (aviation) A season or a time of day when there is relatively little air traffic.
   Coordinate term: noon balloon
   For a round-trip journey starting from the UK during the shoulder period (1 April-30 June) […] 1976, Trade and Industry, volume 25, page 270
   the determination of noise-induced disturbances during the shoulder hours and their consequences for the consecutive sleep period 2003, Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on Noise as a Public Health Problem (Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 29 June-3 July 2003), page 184

verb

1. (transitive) To push (a person or thing) using one's shoulder.
   Around her numberless the rabble flowed, / Shouldering each other, crowding for a view. 1714, Nicholas Rowe, The Tragedy of Jane Shore
2. (transitive) To put (something) on one's shoulders.
   Early in the morning they shouldered light packs, took their rifles, crossed the big draw, and entered the timber where was the deadfall. 1922, A. M. Chisholm, A Thousand a Plate
   Like a power clean, shouldering a sandbag — lifting it from the floor to your shoulder in one explosive movement — requires a coordinated effort from your core, upper body, and legs. 2008 June, Men's Health, The World's Simplest Workout, volume 23, number 5, page 120
3. (transitive) To place (something) against one's shoulders.
   All three sets are nicely sculptured along the bottom to prevent interference when shouldering your gun with proper shooting form. 2004, Chris Christian, Larry Sterett, Rick Sapp, The Gun Digest Book of Trap & Skeet Shooting, page 221
4. (transitive, figurative) To bear a burden, as a financial obligation.
   The shareholders were then shouldering a burden of liability out of proportion to their mere ownership of theoretical fractions of the business. 1950, Colin Arthur Cooke, Corporation, Trust and Company: An Essay in Legal History, page 111
5. (transitive, figurative) To accept responsibility for.
   shoulder the blame
   The former president has been forced to shoulder some of the blame for poor performances in key races, including in Pennsylvania, where his handpicked Republican candidate, Mehmet Oz, lost to Democrat John Fetterman in a contest that allowed Democrats to keep the Senate majority. 2022-11-15, Hugo Lowell, “Trump to barrel ahead with campaign reveal despite Republican pushback”, in The Guardian
   She had a father before this and now she doesn’t have a father. And I shouldered that because if Meg wasn’t with me, then her dad would still be her dad. 2022-12-08, Caroline Davies, quoting Prince Harry, “Prince Harry: royals didn’t understand risk to Meghan of racial attacks”, in The Guardian
6. (transitive) To form a shape resembling a shoulder.
   allowance at the bottom of blind bores for the chamfered tip of the reamer will obviate additional operations with shouldering or bottoming reamers to completely finish the entire length of a hole. 1977, Roger W. Autor Bolz, Production Processes: The Productivity Handbook, page 12-81
7. (intransitive) To move by or as if by using one's shoulders.
   He had seen them in the beer halls, shouldering up to the head of the queues 2003, Harrison E. Salisbury, The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad, page 304
8. (transitive) To round and slightly raise the top edges of slate shingles so that they form a tighter fit at the lower edge and can be swung aside to expose the nail.
9. (intransitive) To slope downwards from the crest and whitewater portion of a wave.
10. (transitive, archaic, slang) Of a servant: to embezzle money from (the employer).