shy

Less common meanings

6. 6
   jump in fearverbintransitive

   To start or leap backward suddenly out of fear, as a startled horse.

   The mare shied violently at the rattle of the gate.

   Deer shy at the slightest unfamiliar sound.

   UsageUsually shy at whatever startles: the mare shied at the gate. Forms: shies, shied.

   Similarstartle, start (entry)

7. 7
   a startled jumpnouncountable

   A sudden movement sideways, especially one made by a startled horse.

   The mare's shy at the rustling bushes unseated her rider.

   The horse gave a sudden shy when a plastic bag blew past, and the rider nearly fell.

   Similarstart (entry), swerve, jump, lurch

8. 8
   flingverbtransitive

   To throw something sideways with a sudden jerk; to fling.

   She shied a pebble at the old tin can.

   The children would shy apple cores into the ditch.

   UsageUsually shy something at a target: shied a pebble at the can.

   Similarthrow, fling, hurl, toss, chuck

   Oppositecatch

   Note

   In Thomas Hughes's Tom Brown's School Days (1857), a bully picks up a slipper and "shied it at the kneeling boy." Wilkie Collins's narrator longs to shy the Diamond into the quicksand. The throw is quick and impulsive, of whatever is to hand, not a measured pitch. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Thomas Hughes wrote Tom Brown's School Days. gutenberg.org
   • Tom Brown's School Days was first published in 1857. kodomo.go.jp
   • A bully picks up a slipper and throws it at the kneeling boy; the quoted wording is exact. gutenberg.org
   • A narrator in Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone expresses a wish to throw the Diamond into the quicksand. gutenberg.org
9. 9
   a thrownouncountable

   An act of throwing something; a toss or fling.

   She had a shy at the target and just missed the center.

   His first shy sent the ball clean over the fence.

   UsageBest known in have a shy at something; take a shy at also occurs.

   Similarthrow, toss, fling, shot

   Note

   Punch in 1846 says that Lord Brougham, stone in hand, "must, it seems, have a shy at somebody." The target can be literal: in Thackeray's Pendennis, a nervous admirer makes "a feeble shy with a rose." The phrase suggests a quick, hopeful attempt rather than careful aim. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Punch used the Brougham example in 1846. en.wiktionary.org
   • In Thackeray's Pendennis, a nervous admirer throws a rose, described as “a feeble shy with a rose”. gutenberg.org
10. 10
    nounarchaic

    A mocking or scornful remark; a taunt or jeer.

    Note

    An archaic sense close to the throwing ones: a gibe is a remark flung at someone, much as the act of throwing aims a stone. In modern prose it sounds old-fashioned, and readers may take it as a literal throw. It is safest in historical writing or deliberate pastiche. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Shy has an archaic noun sense meaning a gibe or sneer. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    fair stallnouncountable

    A stall or spot set up for throwing balls at a target, as at a fair, to win a prize.

    He paid a coin to try his luck at the coconut shy.

    The fair's busiest shy offered cuddly toys to anyone who hit the target.

    UsageMost often in coconut shy.

    Similarstall, booth, stand

12. 12
    verbdialectalScotland

    To throw a ball with both hands held above the head, especially when it has gone over the sidelines in a soccer match.
13. 13
    noundialectalScotland

    A restart in soccer made by throwing the ball back onto the field with both hands held above the head.
14. 14
    verbdialectalScotland

    To return the ball to play from the sidelines in shinty by tossing it overhead and striking it with the stick.
15. 15
    noundialectalScotland

    In shinty, the move of tossing the ball overhead and striking it with the stick to return it to play after it has left the field.
16. 16
    nounrare

    In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the scoring area called the calx.