About The Word Shire

Bay Area Crosswords

Learn about the word Shire to help solve your crossword puzzle. Discover Shire definitions and meaning, origins, synonyms, related terms and more at the free Crossword Dictionary.

Shire

Shire Meaning & Definition
Shire Definition And Meaning

What's The Definition Of Shire?

[n] British breed of large heavy draft horse
[n] (British) a former administrative district of England; equivalent to a county

Synonyms | Synonyms for Shire: shire horse

Related Terms | Find terms related to Shire:

See Also | administrative district | administrative division | county town | draft horse | draught horse | dray horse | shire town | territorial division

Shire In Webster's Dictionary

\Shire\, n. [AS. sc[=i]re, sc[=i]r, a division, province, county. Cf. {Sheriff}.] 1. A portion of Great Britain originally under the supervision of an earl; a territorial division, usually identical with a county, but sometimes limited to a smaller district; as, Wiltshire, Yorkshire, Richmondshire, Hallamshire. An indefinite number of these hundreds make up a county or shire. --Blackstone. 2. A division of a State, embracing several contiguous townships; a county. [U. S.] Note: Shire is commonly added to the specific designation of a county as a part of its name; as, Yorkshire instead of York shire, or the shire of York; Berkshire instead of Berks shire. Such expressions as the county of Yorkshire, which in a strict sense are tautological, are used in England. In the United States the composite word is sometimes the only name of a county; as, Berkshire county, as it is called in Massachusetts, instead of Berks county, as in Pensylvania. The Tyne, Tees, Humber, Wash, Yare, Stour, and Thames separate the counties of Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, etc. --Encyc. Brit. {Knight of the shire}. See under {Knight}. {Shire clerk}, an officer of a county court; also, an under sheriff. [Eng.] {Shire mote} (Old. Eng. Law), the county court; sheriff's turn, or court. [Obs.] --Cowell. --Blackstone. {Shire reeve} (Old Eng. Law), the reeve, or bailiff, of a shire; a sheriff. --Burrill. {Shire town}, the capital town of a county; a county town. {Shire wick}, a county; a shire. [Obs.] --Holland.

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