shrews
Small burrowing mammals
Shrews are tiny, mouse-like mammals with pointed snouts and sharp teeth.
Despite their size, they have ferocious appetites and must eat almost constantly to survive.
The word also refers to bad-tempered, nagging women—a sense now considered offensive but preserved in Shakespeare's *The Taming of the Shrew*.
The two meanings share connotations of aggressive, sharp-tongued behavior.
Resembling gnawing mammals
- furAnimal body hair
- whiskersFacial sensory hairs
- vertebrateSpinal column animal
- warm-bloodedInternally temperature-regulated
nocturnal · gestation · litter · pups · quadruped · endothermic · snout · teeth
Enclosed underground route
- burrowAnimal's dug dwelling
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
- nestAnimal-built shelter for young
- denPrivate room or lair
habitat · territory · leaf litter · undergrowth · shelter · hideaway · runways · ground-dwelling
Hostile and confrontational
- ferociousExtremely violent or aggressive
- venomousProducing injected toxins
- pugnaciousInclined to quarrel
- combativeInclined toward conflict
territorial · bite · attack · defensive · solitary · short-tempered · cannibalistic · dominance
Six-legged arthropods
- wormsLimbless burrowing invertebrates
- beetlesHard-winged insects
- larvaeImmature metamorphosing creatures
- grubsImmature beetle stage
caterpillars · spiders · arthropods · invertebrates · carnivorous · foraging · predation · prey
Very small, or nickname form
- minusculeExtremely small in size
- smallLimited in size
- miniatureReduced-scale representation
- lightweightLacking mass or importance
rodent-like
Resembling gnawing mammals
- furAnimal body hair
- whiskersFacial sensory hairs
- vertebrateSpinal column animal
warm-blooded · nocturnal · gestation · litter · pups · quadruped · endothermic · snout · teeth · metabolism
tunnel
Enclosed underground route
- burrowAnimal's dug dwelling
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
- nestAnimal-built shelter for young
den · habitat · territory · leaf litter · undergrowth · shelter · hideaway · runways · ground-dwelling · microhabitat
aggressive
Hostile and confrontational
- ferociousExtremely violent or aggressive
- venomousProducing injected toxins
- pugnaciousInclined to quarrel
combative · territorial · bite · attack · defensive · solitary · short-tempered · cannibalistic · dominance · confrontation
insects
Six-legged arthropods
- wormsLimbless burrowing invertebrates
- beetlesHard-winged insects
- larvaeImmature metamorphosing creatures
grubs · caterpillars · spiders · arthropods · invertebrates · carnivorous · foraging · predation · prey · hunting
diminutive
Very small, or nickname form
shrewssloths
Extremely slow arboreal mammals
gentle giants · capybaras · manatees · tortoises · pandas
shrewssloths
Extremely slow arboreal mammals
tortoises · hibernators · camels · snakes · crocodiles
shrewsangels
Divine winged messengers
sweethearts · saints · peacemakers · lambs · doves
- 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
shrewd, shrew, shrewdness, shrewdly, shrewish, shrewder, shrewdest, shrewishness