shoulders

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of shoulder.

   He shrugged his shoulders and walked away without a word.

   The soldiers slung their packs over their shoulders before the march.

   Note

   A regular -s plural that covers every kind of shoulder the singular names. That includes the joints of the body, the shoulders of a coat, cuts of meat, and the strips of land bordering a road. The same spelling is also the verb form, as in she shoulders the cost. A determiner before the word (the shoulders, his shoulders) usually shows you are reading the noun.

2. 2
   noun

   The upper region of the back together with the two joints where the arms connect to the body.

   He rubbed sunscreen across his shoulders before the long swim.

   Years of poor posture had left a deep ache across her shoulders.

   Note

   Here the plural names one region rather than a pair of joints: the band across the top of the back, from one arm to the other. That is why it takes prepositions of area, such as an ache across the shoulders or sunscreen over the shoulders. In clinical terms the region spans both glenohumeral joints and the trapezius and deltoid muscles that link the arms to the trunk.

3. 3
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of shoulder.

   The eldest daughter shoulders most of the family's responsibilities.

   Each steel beam shoulders part of the building's enormous weight.

   Note

   Every sense of the verb takes an object, so this form is followed by what is pushed, carried or borne. It covers the physical act (he shoulders the door open) and the figurative ones (she shoulders the bill, he shoulders the blame). It also covers a rougher meaning: to bully or pull rank on someone. It shares its spelling with the noun plural.

4. 4
   noun

   The capacity to bear a task, burden, or blame.

   The success of the entire project now rests on her shoulders.

   He took the failure squarely on his own shoulders and apologized to the staff.

   Note

   The figurative sense pictures a load carried where a porter carries it. It almost always comes with a possessive and the preposition on: responsibility is placed on his shoulders, or rests on her own shoulders. Adding own or squarely stresses that someone accepts the blame willingly. The verb carries the same image when someone shoulders a debt or a duty.

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