shoulder

Universal Words noun, verb noun part of body 1 [C] either of the two parts of the body between the top of each arm and the neck: He slung the bag over his shoulder. * She tapped him on the shoulder. * He looked back over his shoulder. * She shrugged her shoulders (= showing that she didn't know or care). * an off-the-shoulder dress * He carried the child on his shoulders. -shouldered 2 (in adjectives) having the type of shoulders mentioned: broad-shouldered seealsoROUND-SHOULDERED clothing 3 [C] the part of a piece of clothing that covers the shoulder: a jacket with padded shoulders meat 4 [U,C] ~ (of sth) meat from the top part of one of the front legs of an animal that has four legs of mountain / bottle, etc. 5 [C] ~ (of sth) a part of sth, such as a bottle or mountain, that is shaped like a shoulder: The village lay just around the shoulder of the hill. side of road 6 [C] (AmE) an area of ground at the side of a road where vehicles can stop in an emergency: No shoulder for next 5 miles. seealsoHARDSHOULDER, SOFTSHOULDER IDIOMS be looking over your shoulder to be anxious and have the feeling that sb is going to do sth unpleasant or harmful to you: If you give the police his name, you'll spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, wondering when he'll find you. on sb's shoulders if blame, guilt, etc. is on sb's shoulders, they must take responsibility for it: Stop trying to put the blame on somebody else's shoulders. put your shoulder to the wheel to start working very hard at a particular task: Everyone is going to have to put their shoulder to the wheel. a shoulder to cry on (used to describe a person who listens to your problems and gives you sympathy) shoulder to shoulder (with sb) 1 physically close to sb: The large crowd stood shoulder to shoulder in the stands. 2 as one group that has the same aims, opinions, etc. moreatCHIPn., COLDadj., HEADn., OLD, RUBv., STRAIGHTadv. verb accept responsibility 1 [VN] to accept the responsibility for sth: to shoulder the responsibility / blame for sth * women who shoulder the double burden of childcare and full-time work push with shoulder 2 [+adv./prep.] to push forward with your shoulder in order to get somewhere: [VN] He shouldered his way through the crowd and went after her. * [V] She shouldered past a woman with a screaming baby. 3 [VN+adv./prep.] to push sb/sth out of your way with your shoulder: He shouldered the man aside. carry on shoulder 4 [VN] to carry sth on your shoulder: She shouldered her bag and set off home. * to shoulder arms (= to hold a weapon, rifle, etc. against your shoulder while you are not using it)