English

Noun

shive ‎(plural shives)

1. A slice, especially of bread.
   • 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers:

     In my cool room with the shutters shut and the thin shives of air and light coming through the slats, I cried myself to sleep in an overloud selfpitying transport.

2. (obsolete) A sheave.
3. A beam or plank of split wood.
4. A flat, wide cork for plugging a large hole.

(Can we add an example for this sense?)

Translations

Etymology 2

From a Proto-Germanic base which probably existed in Old English (though is not attested before the Middle English period). Cognate with German Schebe, Dutch scheef.

Noun

shive ‎(plural shives)

1. (obsolete) A splinter; a particle of fluff on the surface of cloth or other material.
2. (paper-makin) A particle of impurity in finished paper.

Translations

Etymology 3

Variant of shiv.

Noun

shive ‎(plural shives)

1. Alternative form of shiv
   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day (Vintage 2007), page 50:

     So every alleyway down here, every shadow big enough to hide a shive artist with a grudge, is a warm invitation to rewrite history.

Etymology 4

See shiva

Noun

shive

1. Alternative spelling of shiva
   • 2010, William Labov, A Life of Learning

     There are some cultural details in Schissel’s story that are specific to the Jewish community: the family sits shive (seven days of mourning for the dead), and the preference for silence at that time.

Derived terms

• sit shive

Translations

Anagrams

• hives