SHRED

rag, shred, tag, tag end, tatter

(noun) a small piece of cloth or paper

shred, scintilla, whit, iota, tittle, smidgen, smidgeon, smidgin, smidge

(noun) a tiny or scarcely detectable amount

shred, tear up, rip up

(verb) tear into shreds

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology 1

Noun

shred (plural shreds)

A long, narrow piece cut or torn off; a strip.

In general, a fragment; a piece; a particle; a very small amount.

Synonyms

• See also modicum.

Etymology 2

Verb

shred (third-person singular simple present shreds, present participle shredding, simple past shredded, past participle shred or shredded)

To cut or tear into narrow and long pieces or strips.

To reduce by a large percentage.

(obsolete, transitive) To lop; to prune; to trim.

(snowboarding) To ride aggressively.

(bodybuilding) To drop fat and water weight before a competition.

(music, slang) To play very fast (especially guitar solos in rock and metal genres).

Anagrams

• herds, sherd

Source: Wiktionary

Shred, n. Etym: [OE. shrede, schrede, AS. screáde; akin to OD. schroode, G. schrot a piece cut off, Icel. skrjothr a shred, and to E. shroud. Cf. Screed, Scroll, Scrutiny.]

1. A long, narrow piece cut or torn off; a strip. "Shreds of tanned leather." Bacon.

2. In general, a fragment; a piece; a particle. Shak.

Shred, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shred or Shredded (; p. pr. & vb. n. Shredding.] Etym: [OE. shreden, schreden, AS. screádian; akin to OD. schrooden, OHG. scr, G. schroten. See Shred, n.]

1. To cut or tear into small pieces, particularly narrow and long pieces, as of cloth or leather. Chaucer.

2. To lop; to prune; to trim. [Obs.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition