shayle, to shamble, to walk crookedly or awkwardly. Skelton, ed. Dyce, i. 20, l. 19; p. 214, l. 172. Palsgrave has: ‘I shayle, as a man or horse dothe that gothe croked with his legges, Ie vas eschays.’ ME. schaylyn, ‘disgredior’ (Prompt. EETS. 451). See [shale] and [shoyle].
sheal, to take off the outer covering of peas, King Lear, i. 4. 219. In prov. use in Scotland and in various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Sheal, vb.2 1).
sheath; see [painted].
sheene, fair, beautiful to behold. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 10; ii. 2. 40; ii. 10. 8; ‘Haill May, haill Flora, haill Aurora schene!’, Dunbar, Thrissill, 9; as sb., fairness, splendour, Hamlet, iii. 2. 167. ME. shene, fair, beautiful (Chaucer, C. T. A. 972). OE. scēne, scȳne, scīene, fair, identical with G. schön, beautiful, Goth. skauns.
sheerly, entirely. Fletcher, Mad Lover, v. 4 (Memnon). A Scotch word, used by Burns, Ep. to Major Logan (EDD.).
sheeve, a slice; ‘A sheeve of bread’, Warner, Alb. England, bk. iv, ch. 20, st. 29. In prov. use in Scotland and Lanc., see EDD. (s.v. Sheave). See [shive].
shelf, a sandbank. B. Jonson, The Forest, iii (l. 12 from end); shelves, pl., 3 Hen. VI, v. 4. 23; ‘On the tawny sands and shelves Trip the pert faeries’, Milton, Comus, 117. For Scotch exx. see EDD. (s.v. Shelf, sb.2).
shell, a cockle-shell worn in the hat by pilgrims to Compostella. Heywood, Four Prentises (Godfrey), vol. ii, p. 213.
shells, a cant term for money. Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (2 Cutpurse); Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. II, iii. 2 (Matheo).
shend, to put to shame, blame, reproach. Spenser, Prothalamion, 121; shent, pp., F. Q. ii. 5. 5; vi. 6. 18. In prov. use in Scotland and in Kent (EDD.). ME. shende, to render contemptible (Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. v. 893); schende, to blame, reproach (Wyclif, Ps. cxviii. 31). OE. scendan.