shrew's

Tiny insectivore's possession

Shrew's is the possessive form of shrew—a tiny, aggressive, insect-eating mammal with a pointed snout.

The word also means a bad-tempered, scolding woman, now dated and offensive: Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.

The possessive marks ownership or association: a shrew's high metabolism, the shrew's sharp tongue.

temperament

wife

Female marriage partner

tongueOral muscle for taste
temperState of mind
naggingPersistent bothering or complaining

scolding · sharp · bitter · quarrelsome · ill-tempered · harsh · virago · termagant · waspish · petulant

mammal

nest

Animal-built shelter for young

burrowAnimal's dug dwelling
teethEnamel-covered chewing structures
preyAnimal being hunted

venom · insectivore · tail · fur · snout · habitat · tunnels · metabolism · nocturnal · heartbeat

shakespearean

Kate

Feminine name, shortened

PaduaItalian city in Veneto
BiancaItalian for white
wooingRomantic pursuit of another

Petruchio · comedy · submission · tamed · wedding · suitor · dowry · courtship · play · Elizabethan

Opposites

TEMPERAMENT (archaic personality sense)

shrew'sangel's

Belonging to divine spirit

saint's · sweetheart's · lamb's · dove's · gentlewoman's

MAMMALIAN TAXONOMY (animal sense)

shrew'selephant's

Of the largest land animal

mammalian taxonomy

shrew'smouse's

Belonging to small rodent

mole's · rat's

Phrases

Taming of the ShrewElizabethan battle-of-sexes comedy
elephant shrewSmall long-snouted African mammal
Taming of ShrewControlling a difficult spouse
tree shrewSmall primate-adjacent mammal
water shrewSemiaquatic insectivorous rodent-like mammal

Family

shrew, shrews, shrewish, shrewishness, shrewd, shrewdly, shrewdness

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G