- shoulder
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 part of the bodyADJECTIVE▪ dislocated, fractured, frozen, injured, sore, wounded▪
His frozen shoulder has stopped him from playing tennis.
SHOULDER + NOUN▪ injury▪ blade, bones, joint, muscle, socket▪The bullet hit him squarely between the shoulder blades.
▪ height, level▪ harness, sling, strap▪ pad▪ bagPREPOSITION▪ over your shoulder▪He slung the sack over his shoulder and set off.
PHRASES▪ a pat on the shoulder▪He gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
▪ shoulder to shoulder▪The route of the procession was lined with police officers standing shoulder to shoulder.
▪ tap sb on the shoulder▪I tapped the man on the shoulder and asked him to move.
2 shoulders the part between the two shouldersADJECTIVE▪ broad, huge, muscled, muscular, powerful, strong, wide▪ delicate, slim▪ narrow, thin▪ square▪ round▪ bony▪ bowed▪ bare▪ tense, tightVERB + SHOULDERS▪ shrug▪When I asked him why he'd done it he just shrugged his shoulders.
▪ hunch▪He hunched his shoulders against the cold wind.
▪ drop, relax▪Inhale, drop your shoulders and raise your chest.
▪ roll, rotate▪Roll your shoulders forward and take a deep breath.
▪ square, straighten▪In an aggressive situation, we stand tall and square our shoulders.
SHOULDERS + VERB▪ be bent, be bowed, be stooped▪She was crouched with her head forward and her shoulders bent.
▪ droop, drop, sag, slump▪My shoulders dropped with relief.
▪ lift, shrug▪Her shoulders lifted in a vague shrug.
▪ heave, shake, twitch▪His broad shoulders heaved with sobs.
▪ stiffen, tense, tighten▪ relaxPREPOSITION▪ on sb's shoulders▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}The child sat on her father's shoulders to watch the parade go by.
verb1 accept the responsibility for sthVERB + SHOULDER▪ have to, must▪She had to shoulder the burden of childcare.
▪ be willing to▪ be unwilling to▪He was unwilling to shoulder this responsibility alone.
2 push sb/sth with your shoulderADVERB▪ roughly▪We were shouldered roughly out of the way.
▪ aside, out of the way▪ open▪He shouldered open the door.
▪ pastPHRASES▪ shoulder your way past sb/sth, shoulder your way through sth▪She shouldered her way through the crowd.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
