From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishshrewshrew /ʃruː/ noun [countable] 1 HBAa very small animal like a mouse with a long pointed nose2 old-fashionedUNPLEASANT an unpleasant woman who always argues and disagrees with people
Examples from the Corpus
shrew• Matilda has the reputation of being a shrew - do you think she will stay tamely in Anjou?• Her hat was an aggressively red felt and she peered out from under its big brim like a shrew ready to attack.• They placed a shrew into a social confrontation with another shrew.• The girls became shrews and harridans: they screamed at the help and they smothered their children.• I became attuned to the high-toned squeaking of shrews, which appeared to be engaged in conflict.• You have to listen and to know, to hear the shrews at all.• The very first mammals were small insectivores, probably very similar to this modern tree shrew.Origin shrew Old English screawa 