Shire
['ʃaɪə] or ['ʃaɪɚ]
Definition
(noun.) British breed of large heavy draft horse.
(noun.) a former administrative district of England; equivalent to a county.
Editor: Lucia--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A portion of Great Britain originally under the supervision of an earl; a territorial division, usually identical with a county, but sometimes limited to a smaller district; as, Wiltshire, Yorkshire, Richmondshire, Hallamshire.
(n.) A division of a State, embracing several contiguous townships; a county.
Edited by Clifford
Definition
n. a county one of the larger divisions of England for political purposes—originally a division of the kingdom under a sheriff the deputy of the ealdorman: a term also surviving as applied to certain smaller districts in England as Richmondshire and Hallamshire.—ns. Shire′man a sheriff; Shire′-moot Shire′-mote formerly in England a court of the county held periodically by the sheriff together with the bishop or the ealdorman.
Checker: Truman
Examples
- From Lowood school, in ---shire. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I hope your plans in favour of the ----shire will not be affected by his being in the neighbourhood. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- I sent it down again, with these words written underneath the word, on purpose to put him in a passion, Don't know anybody in that shire. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- At Gateshead; in ---shire. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- They were sent up by the minor gentry, freeholders and village elders of their districts as early as 1254, two knights from each shire. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- It was the prospect of constant society, and good society, he added, which was my chief inducement to enter the ----shire. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- Since the ----shire were first quartered in Meryton, nothing but love, flirtation, and officers have been in her head. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- He intended to have her brought up in ---shire, I believe. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- It seems that Nunnely Priory is shut up--that the family are gone back to their place in ----shire. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- An uncle, an aunt, and two cousins from the south--a Mr., Mrs., and two Misses Sympson, of Sympson Grove, ----shire--came down upon her in state. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- And when I returned home, the ----shire was to leave Meryton in a week or fortnight's time. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- Yet that name astonished her--Shirley Keeldar, Sympson Grove, ----shire (a southern county), and a date four years back. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I speak to Mrs. Bretton, formerly of Bretton, ----shire? Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Besides, it will not much signify what one wears this summer, after the ----shire have left Meryton, and they are going in a fortnight. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- His regiment is there; for I suppose you have heard of his leaving the ----shire, and of his being gone into the regulars. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
Inputed by Cornelia