Shrew \Shrew\, n. [See Shrew, a.]
1. Originally, a brawling, turbulent, vexatious person of
either sex, but now restricted in use to females; a
brawler; a scold.
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A man . . . grudgeth that shrews [i. e., bad men]
have prosperity, or else that good men have
adversity. --Chaucer.
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A man had got a shrew to his wife, and there could
be no quiet in the house for her. --L'Estrange.
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2. [AS. scre['a]wa; -- so called because supposed to be
venomous. ] (Zool.) Any small insectivore of the genus
Sorex and several allied genera of the family
Sorecidae. In form and color they resemble mice, but
they have a longer and more pointed nose. Some of them are
the smallest of all mammals.
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Note: The common European species are the house shrew
(Crocidura araneus), and the erd shrew (Sorex
vulgaris) (see under Erd.). In the United States
several species of Sorex and Blarina are common, as
the broadnosed shrew (Sorex platyrhinus), Cooper's
shrew (Sorex Cooperi), and the short-tailed, or mole,
shrew (Blarina brevicauda). Th American water, or
marsh, shrew (Neosorex palustris), with fringed feet,
is less common. The common European water shrews are
Crossopus fodiens, and the oared shrew (see under
Oared).
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Earth shrew, any shrewlike burrowing animal of the family
Centetidae, as the tendrac.
Elephant shrew, Jumping shrew, Mole shrew. See under
Elephant, Jumping, etc.
Musk shrew. See Desman.
River shrew, an aquatic West African insectivore
(Potamogale velox) resembling a weasel in form and size,
but having a large flattened and crested tail adapted for
rapid swimming. It feeds on fishes.
Shrew mole, a common large North American mole (Scalops
aquaticus). Its fine, soft fur is gray with iridescent
purple tints.
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