shy - What does it mean?
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Definition of 'shy'English
Adjective
( en-adj)
Easily frightened; timid.
* Jonathan Swift
- The horses of the army were no longer shy , but would come up to my very feet without starting.
Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach.
- He is very shy with strangers.
* Arbuthnot
- What makes you so shy , my good friend? There's nobody loves you better than I.
Cautious; wary; suspicious.
* Boyle
- I am very shy of using corrosive liquors in the preparation of medicines.
* Sir H. Wotton
- Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of their successors.
Short, insufficient or less than.
- By our count your shipment came up two shy of the bill of lading amount.
- It is just shy of a mile from here to their house.
Embarrassed.
See also
* bashful
* reserved
* timid
* demure
* coy
Usage notes
* Often used in combination with a noun to produce an adjective or adjectival phrase.
* Adjectives are usually applicable to animals (leash-shy'' "shy of leashes" or ''head shy "shy of contact around the head" (of horses)) or to children.
Synonyms
* See also
Antonyms
* brazen
* bold
* audacious
Derived terms
( terms derived using shy as suffix)
* -shy
* bird-shy
* boy-shy
* car-shy
* cat-shy
* camera-shy
* cover-shy
* girl-shy
* gun-shy
( rel-mid)
* hand-shy
* man-shy
* mouse-shy
* noise-shy
* people-shy
* water-shy
* woman-shy
* work-shy
( rel-bottom)
Verb
To avoid due to timidness or caution.
- I shy away from investment opportunities I don't understand.
To jump back in fear.
- The horse shied''' away from the rider, which startled him so much he '''shied away from the horse.
to throw sideways with a jerk; to fling
- to shy''' a stone; to '''shy a slipper
-
Noun
( shies)
An act of throwing.
- (Thackeray)
* Punch
- If Lord Brougham gets a stone in his hand, he must, it seems, have a shy at somebody.
* 2008 , (James Kelman), Kieron Smith, Boy , Penguin 2009, p. 55:
- The game had started. A man was chasing the ball, it went out for a shy .
A place for throwing.
- coconut shy
A sudden start aside, as by a horse.
In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the calx.
Derived terms
* coconut shy
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