SHIM

shim

(noun) a thin wedge of material (wood or metal or stone) for driving into crevices

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology 1

Noun

shim (plural shims)

A wedge.

A thin piece of material, sometimes tapered, used for alignment or support.

(computing) A small library that transparently intercepts and modifies calls to an API, usually for compatibility purposes.

A kind of shallow plow used in tillage to break the ground and clear it of weeds.

A small metal device used to pick open a lock.

Verb

shim (third-person singular simple present shims, present participle shimming, simple past and past participle shimmed)

To fit one or more shims to a piece of machinery.

To adjust something by using shims.

(computing, transitive) To intercept and modify calls to (an API), usually for compatibility purposes.

Etymology 2

Noun

shim (plural shims)

(informal, often, derogatory) a person characterised by both male and female traits, or by ambiguous male-female traits, also called a he-she; transsexual.

(informal, often, derogatory) hermaphrodite.

Anagrams

• HMIS, HMIs, Mish, hims, mish

Proper noun

Shim (plural Shims)

A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Shim is the 6801^st most common surname in the United States, belonging to 4958 individuals. Shim is most common among Asian/Pacific Islander (86.65%) individuals.