n.1 any small usu. insect-eating mouselike mammal of the family Soricidae, with a long pointed snout.
2 a bad-tempered or scolding woman.
Derivatives:
shrewish adj. (in sense 2). shrewishly adv. shrewishness n.
Etymology: OE screawa, scr{aelig}wa shrew-mouse: cf. OHG scrawaz dwarf, MHG schrawaz etc. devil