Definition of "shoulder"

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.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • But then I had the flintlock by me for protection. ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […].

     1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The First Gun”, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], page 4

   • With just the turn of a shoulder she indicated the water front, where, at the end of the dock on which they stood, lay the good ship, Mount Vernon, river packet, the black smoke already pouring from her stacks. In turn he smiled and also shrugged a shoulder.

     1910, Emerson Hough, “A Lady in Company”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company

2. (anatomy) The joint between the arm and the torso, sometimes including the surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments.  examples

3. A cut of meat comprising the upper joint of the foreleg and the surrounding muscle.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • In the firſt Courſe there was a Shoulder of Mutton, cut into an Æquilateral Triangle, a Piece of Beef into a Rhomboides, and a Pudding into a Cycloid.

     1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Humours and Dispositions of the Laputians Described. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], part III (A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdribb, Luggnagg, and Japan), page 20

4. The portion of a garment where the shoulder is clothed.  examples

Anything forming a shape resembling a human shoulder.  examples

(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.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • […] the north-western shoulder of the mountain […]

     1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter III, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, page 57

3. A lateral protrusion of a hill or mountain.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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.  examples

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.  examples

(printing) The flat portion of type that is below the bevelled portion that joins up with the face.  examples

(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.  examples

2. The rounded portion of a bottle where the neck meets the body.  examples

3. (firearms) The angled section between the neck and the main body of a cartridge.  examples

(figurative) That which supports or sustains; support.  quotations  examples

The part of a key between the cuts and the bow.Parts of a Yale lock-type key  examples

(surfing) The part of a wave that has not yet broken.  examples

(aviation) A season or a time of day when there is relatively little air traffic.  quotations  examples

(transitive) To push (a person or thing) using one's shoulder.  quotations  examples

(transitive) To put (something) on one's shoulders.  quotations  examples

(transitive) To place (something) against one's shoulders.  quotations  examples

(transitive, figuratively) To bear a burden, as a financial obligation.  quotations  examples

(transitive, figuratively) To accept responsibility for.  quotations  examples

(transitive) To form a shape resembling a shoulder.  quotations  examples

(intransitive) To move by or as if by using one's shoulders.  quotations  examples

(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.  examples

(intransitive) To slope downwards from the crest and whitewater portion of a wave.  examples

(transitive, archaic, slang) Of a servant: to embezzle money from (the employer).