/ ʃɪt; NAmE / exclamation , noun , verb , adjective
■ exclamation
( taboo , slang ) a swear word that many people find offensive, used to show that you are angry or annoyed :
Shit! I've lost my keys!
HELP NOTE : Less offensive exclamations to use are blast , darn it (especially NAmE ), damn or ( BrE ) bother .
■ noun ( taboo , slang )
1.
[ U ] solid waste matter from the bowels
SYN excrement :
a pile of dog shit on the path
HELP NOTE : A more polite way to express this example would be 'a pile of dog dirt'.
2.
[ sing. ] an act of emptying solid waste matter from the bowels :
to have a shit
3.
[ U ] stupid remarks or writing; nonsense :
You're talking shit!
She's so full of shit.
—see also bullshit
4.
[ C ] ( disapproving ) an unpleasant person who treats other people badly :
He's an arrogant little shit.
5.
[ U ] criticism or unfair treatment :
I'm not going to take any shit from them.
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IDIOMS
- beat, kick, etc. the shit out of sb
- in the shit | in deep shit
- like shit
- no shit!
- not give a shit (about sb/sth)
- shit happens
- when the shit hits the fan
—more at crock , scare verb
■ verb ( shit·ting , shit , shit ) ( taboo , slang )
HELP NOTE : shat / ʃæt / and, in BrE , shit·ted are also used for the past tense and past participle.
1.
[ v , vn ] to empty solid waste matter from the bowels
HELP NOTE : A more polite way of expressing this is 'to go to the toilet / lavatory' ( BrE ), 'to go to the bathroom' ( NAmE ) or 'to go'. A more formal expression is 'to empty the bowels'.
2.
[ vn ] shit yourself to empty solid waste matter from the bowels by accident
3.
[ vn ] shit yourself to be very frightened
■ adjective
( taboo slang , especially BrE ) very bad :
You're shit and you know you are!
They're a shit team.
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English scitte diarrhoea , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch schijten , German scheissen (verb). The term was originally neutral and used without vulgar connotation.