shouldernoun/ˈʃəʊldə/

• 1

  The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and arm socket.

  • The parrot was sitting on Steve's shoulder.
  • 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[…].
• 2

  anatomymedicinesciencesThe part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and arm socket.

• 3

  The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and arm socket.

  • 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.
• 4

  The part of an animal's body between the base of the neck and arm socket.

• 5

  Anything forming a shape resembling a human shoulder.

• 6

  geographynatural-sciencestopographyA shelf between two levels.

  • He stopped the car on the shoulder of the highway to change the flat tire.
  • The shoulders are graded and the verges cleared well back to lessen the chances of hitting stray stock.
• 7

  geographynatural-sciencestopographyA shelf between two levels.

  • […]the north-western shoulder of the mountain[…]
• 8

  geographynatural-sciencestopographyA shelf between two levels.

  • 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; […].

shoulderverb/ˈʃəʊldə/

• 1

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

  • […]As they the earth would ſhoulder from her ſeat,[…]
  • Around her numberless the rabble flowed, / Shouldering each other, crowding for a view.
• 2

  To bully, manipulate or pull rank on (somebody).

  • He shouldered me out of my own band.
• 3

  To put (something) on one's shoulders.

  • Early in the morning they shouldered light packs, took their rifles, crossed the big draw, and entered the timber where was the deadfall.
  • Like a power clean, shouldering a sandbag — lifting it from the floor to your shoulder in one explosive movement — requires a coordinated effort from your core, upper body, and legs.
• 4

  To place (something) against one's shoulders.

  • All three sets are nicely sculptured along the bottom to prevent interference when shouldering your gun with proper shooting form.
• 5

  To bear a burden, as a financial obligation.

  • The shareholders were then shouldering a burden of liability out of proportion to their mere ownership of theoretical fractions of the business.
• 6

  To accept responsibility for.

  • shoulder the blame
  • The former president has been forced to shoulder some of the blame for poor performances in key races, including in Pennsylvania, where his handpicked Republican candidate, Mehmet Oz, lost to Democrat John Fetterman in a contest that allowed Democrats to keep the Senate majority.
• 7

  To form a shape resembling a shoulder.

  • allowance at the bottom of blind bores for the chamfered tip of the reamer will obviate additional operations with shouldering or bottoming reamers to completely finish the entire length of a hole.
• 8

  To move by or as if by using one's shoulders.

  • The sullen murmur of the bees shouldering their way through the long unmown grass, or circling with monotonous insistence round the dusty gilt horns of the straggling woodbine, seemed to make the stillness more oppressive.
  • […]a yoke of the great sulky white bullocks […] came shouldering along together;