Definition of "shire"

(Britain)

1. (chiefly historical) An administrative area or district between about the 5th to the 11th century, subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; also, a present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; a county; especially (England), a county having a name ending in -shire.

2. (by extension) The people living in a shire (sense 1.1) considered collectively.  examples

3. (by extension, informal) The general area in which a person comes from or lives.  examples

(by extension) An administrative area or district in other countries.

1. (Australia, often attributive) An outer suburban or rural local government area which elects its own council.  examples

Short for shire horse (“a draught horse of a tall British breed, usually bay, black, or grey”).  examples

(obsolete)

1. (Christianity) , the province of an archbishop, the see of a bishop, etc.  examples

2. (by extension, generally) A region; also, a country.  examples

(transitive) To constitute or reconstitute (a country or region) into one or more shires (noun sense 1.1) or counties.  quotations  examples