Shedding

shed ¹  (shd)

v. shed, shed·ding, sheds

v.tr.

1. To cause to pour forth: shed tears.

2. To diffuse or radiate; send forth or impart: shed light.

3. To repel without allowing penetration: A duck's feathers shed water.

4.

a. To lose by natural process: a snake shedding its skin.

b. To rid oneself of (something not wanted or needed): I shed 25 pounds as a result of my new diet.

v.intr.

1. To lose a natural growth or covering by natural process.

2. To pour forth, fall off, or drop out: All the leaves have shed.

n.

1. Something that sheds, especially an elevation in the earth's surface from which water flows in two directions; a watershed.

2. Something that has been shed.

Idiom:

shed blood

To take life, especially with violence; kill.

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[Middle English sheden, to separate, shed, from Old English scadan, to divide; see skei- in Indo-European roots.]

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shed ²  (shd)

n.

1. A small structure, either freestanding or attached to a larger structure, serving for storage or shelter.

2. A large low structure often open on all sides.

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[Alteration of Middle English shadde, perhaps variant of shade, shade; see shade.]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	shedding - the process whereby something is shed sloughing abscission - shedding of flowers and leaves and fruit following formation of scar tissue in a plant ecdysis, molt, molting, moult, moulting - periodic shedding of the cuticle in arthropods or the outer skin in reptiles biological process, organic process - a process occurring in living organisms
	2.	shedding - loss of bits of outer skin by peeling or shedding or coming off in scales desquamation, peeling organic phenomenon - (biology) a natural phenomenon involving living plants and animals