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  1. beshrew love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. v. Archaic To invoke evil upon; curse.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. To wish a curse to; execrate.
  2. In modern use, a mildly imprecatory or merely expletive introductory exclamation, in the form of imperative.

Wiktionary

  1. v. transitive, obsolete To invoke or wish evil upon; to curse.
  2. v. transitive A mildly imprecatory or merely expletive introductory exclamation, in the form of imperative.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. v. To curse; to execrate.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. wish harm upon; invoke evil upon

Etymologies

  1. From Middle English beshrewen ("to curse, pervert"), equivalent to be- +‎ shrew. (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English bishrewen : bi-, be- + shrew, wicked person; see shrew. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “I don't beshrew a company for pumping out its product.”

    The Huffington Post: Mike Amato: Simon Cowell's AI Spill: Time to "Top Kill" American Idol

  • “Nay, beshrew me if thou passest this door with dry lips.”

    The Fair Maid of Perth

  • ““The Lord of Gilsland is right,” said the Lady Calista, much agitated at the thoughts of the investigation which was to take place; “and besides, if I had presence of mind enough to forge a plausible story, beshrew me if I think I should have the courage to tell it.””

    The Talisman

  • “    Do dearly love her; yea, beshrew the damned wrong,”

    Poems and Fragments

  • “Elephant and Castle, beshrew me, thy trumpeting must have made thee thirsty.”

    The Rose and the Ring

  • ““I envious? — beshrew thy heart for the word!” replied the handicraft.”

    Kenilworth

  • “I did but refresh myself after the fatigue of the action, with the unbeliever, with one humming cup of sack, and was proceeding to lead forth my captive, when, crash after crash, as with wild thunder-dint and levin-fire, down toppled the masonry of an outer tower, (marry beshrew their hands that built it not the firmer!) and blocked up the passage.”

    Ivanhoe

  • “Honest Bardolph, welcome: if thou wantest any thing, and wilt not call, beshrew thy heart.”

    The second part of King Henry the Fourth

  • “But beshrew me, he cried, clapping hand to his forehead, tomorrow will be a new day and, thousand thunders, I know of a MARCHAND DE CAPOTES,”

    Ulysses

  • “And, beshrew me, that's enough for any man"; and the Lord of Haddon reverently crossed himself to show that the trial had had the approval of his conscience.”

    Heiress of Haddon

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synonyms (2)

Words with the same meaning

  1. curse
  1. execrate

hypernyms (11)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. conjure
  2. call down
  1. evoke
  2. stir
  1. raise
  2. bring up
  1. arouse
  2. conjure up
  1. invoke
  2. put forward
  1. call forth

reverse dictionary (1)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. shrew

tags (2)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. fey
  1. cvcccvcvc

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‘beshrew’ has been looked up 2081 times, loved by 7 people, added to 17 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 15.