▪ I. shim, n.1
(ʃɪm)
Also 7 shimm(e.
[Represents formally OE. scima shadow, gloom.
Cognate forms are OS. scimo shade, WFris. skim, NFris. skemm, MLG. schême shade, twilight, ghost, MDu. schem, schim, schême shade, shadow, ghost, shimmer, shine (Du. schim shadow, phantom), MHG. scheme ghost (G. schemen), ON. skime or sk{iacu}me gleam, sk{iacu}ma glimmer; also OE. sc{iacu}ma brightness, light, OS., OHG. scîmo, Goth. skeima; f. Teut. root skī̆-, for which see shine v.]
1. A streak of white on a horse's face. dial.
Cf. shimmed.
| 1639 T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 23 Some commend the shimme or rase downe the face. 1688 Lond. Gaz. No. 2459/4 A bright Chesnut Gelding,..a Shim [printed Shein] down his Face. 1705 Ibid. 4131/4 A Ring of white round each Ear, and a Shim down her Face. 1784 Cullum Hist. Hawsted iii. 173. |
2. A faint or transient appearance; a glimpse.
| a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose's Prov. Gloss., Shim, appearance, West. A transient view or first sight. 1853 W. D. Cooper Gloss. Prov. Sussex 73, I can't be sure it was a partridge, but I saw the shim of something going over the hedge. |
▪ II. shim, n.2
(ʃɪm)
Also 8 sheim.
[Origin unascertained. It is doubtful whether all the following senses belong to one word.]
I. local.
1. A piece of iron attached to an agricultural implement for scraping the surface of the soil.
| 1723 Lewis Hist. Tenet 9 The furrows..being either howed with a large how, or cleared of weeds and rubbish by what they call a Shim. This is a flat piece of Iron, fixed at the end of a slight little plough beam drawn by one horse, and so made that it may be raised up or let down, as occasion serves. [1736 (ed. 2) 13 reads, A Shim or Brake-plough. This is a Piece of Iron, at the Bottom of two Cheeks with Holes in them, which are put thro' a Frame of Timber drawn with one Horse, and with Iron Pins is let up or down as there is Occasion.] 1808 Batchelor Agric. Bedford 178 A shim, or scraper, might be inserted in the harrow-frame, for cutting thistles and other weeds. |
2. In full shim-plough: A kind of horse-hoe or shallow plough, used in Kent and elsewhere, for hoeing up weeds between rows of beans, hops, etc.
| [1736: see sense 1.] 1736 Pegge Kenticisms (E.D.S.), Shim, an horse-how. 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husb. III. i. 56 (E.D.S.), The sheim or prong-plough. 1754 Pococke Trav. (Camden) II. 88 [In the Isle of Thanet] They have a particular way of cleaning the ground sown with beans, with a machine call'd a shim, with irons at such a distance, that two go between the rows, and turn up the earth on each side against the beans. 1792 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) III. 33 Horse-hoed the intervals with a Berkshire shim, which cuts the surface, but turns no furrow. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 880 In the drill-sown lucern some recommend..the passing of a small shim between them. 1892 Auctioneer's Catal. Farm Sale near Minster, Kent, 148 Pop shim, 149 Iron single shim, 150 5 furrow corn shim. |
3. A Dutch hoe.
| 1833 Ridgemont Farm Rep. 133 in Husb. (L.U.K.) III, The Dutch hoe, called in Holderness the ‘shim’. |
¶ 4. Used by confusion for skim n. (2 b).
So shim-coulter plough in some Dicts.
| 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 470 When the land is of a stiff and lumpy..nature, it may..be necessary to have recourse to shims, in order to break down and separate the particles. 1834 Brit. Husb. (L.U.K.) I. 348 The shim, or skim, has also been affixed as an additional coulter..to a plough much in use in Oxfordshire. 1837 Ibid. II. 18 The skim-plough—or shim, as it is in some places called. |
II. In wider use.
5. a. A thin slip, usually of metal, used to fill up a space between parts subject to wear, to align or adjust the level of rails, etc.
| 1860 Clark & Colburn Recent Practice Locomotive Engine 62/2 Where no gibs are employed in the cross⁓head blocks, ‘shims’ or thickness pieces of sheet-tin or copper are interposed under the ends of the guide-bars. 1864 in Webster. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Shim..(Stone-working). One of the plates in a jumper-hole to fill out a portion of the thickness not occupied by the wedges or feathers. 1885 Waddell Syst. Railroad Bridges Japan 56 There are two different floor systems..: in the first of these the lower lateral rods pass through the wooden shims. 1887 J. Rose Key to Engines 101 A Liner, Fit-Strip, Distance-Piece, or Shim..is a strip of metal placed between the joint faces of the brasses to hold them the proper distance apart. 1916 R. T. Nicholson Bk. of Ford viii. 118 Paper ‘shims’—that is, slips of paper shaped to the flats—between cap and socket. These ‘shims’ will prevent your tightening the nuts up too far. 1953 J. Lawrence Questions & Answers on Automobile Transmission & Steering iv. 90 To rectify the pre-load, adjust the shim pack between the outer bearing cone and the pinion shank or spacer. 1977 New Yorker 4 July 33/2 He took out the shims and adjusted them for proper clearance. |
b. Criminals' slang (chiefly U.S.). = loid.
| 1968 L. O'Donnell Face of Crime i. 12 The lock was of the deadbolt type that doesn't yield to the opportunist's plastic shim. 1973 R. Parkes Guardians i. 8 Had the door fitted flush to the frame, the old perspex shim wouldn't have slipped in. 1977 ‘L. Egan’ Blind Search x. 172 Denny and I went to Nonie's place, and he used a shim to get us in. |
6. U.S. An imperfect shingle of irregular thickness; also, an imperfect bucket-stave.
| In recent U.S. Dicts. |
▪ III. shim, n.3
(ʃɪm)
[Blend of she pers. pron. and him pers. pron.]
A transvestite or transsexual. Also, an effeminate or passive homosexual man.
| 1975 Variety (U.S.) 19 Feb. 4/2 Divine has let it be known that the term to use is not transvestite, not transsexual, not he, she or it..but ‘shim’. 1980 J. Wainwright Kill of Small Consequence xi. 89 He looked a gay type, a typical shim. 1986 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 19 Oct. 72/4 Police at Fortitude Valley in Brisbane have coined a new name for the so-called ladies of the night working in the world's oldest profession. They're called Shims—think about it. |
▪ IV. † shim, a. Obs.
In 4 schym.
[Related to OE. scima, sc{iacu}ma: see shim n.1]
Bright.
Cf. (Chesh., Shropsh.) shim-white, a clear bright white.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 1077 Aboute þat water arn tres ful schym, Þat twelue frytez of lyf con bere ful sone. |
▪ V. † shim, v.1 Obs.
[OE. sc{iacu}mian, ? also scimian, related to scima (see shim n.1): cf. OHG. scîman, MHG. schimmen.]
intr. To shine.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xvii. 24 Scimande of heofnum, coruscans de sub cælo. c 1000 ælfric Gram. xxiv. (Z.) 138 Mico, ic scimiᵹe [v.r. scine]. a 1225 Juliana 55 (Bodl. MS.), Schiminde [Royal MS. schininde] hire nebscheaft schene as þe sunne. a 1225 St. Marher. 19 Wið schimmende ant scharp sweord. Ibid. 44 Hire foster modres schep, þe schimede ant schan. a 1240 [see shimmer v.1]. |
▪ VI. shim, v.2
[f. shim n.2]
1. a. intr. To use the shim for hoeing.
| 1792, etc. [see shimming]. 1793 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) IV. 62 The last week in April, shimmed over the surface. |
b. trans. To hoe (crops) with a shim.
| 1797 A. Young Agric. Suffolk 59 The Kentish method of shimming the stubbles of beans..is unknown in Suffolk. 1799 ― Agric. Linc. 128 He..shims them with the expanding horse-hoe. 1833 Ridgemont Farm Rep. 138 in Husb. (L.U.K.) III, When the land is in good order, an able work⁓man will shim nearly six roods a day. |
2. a. ‘To wedge up or fill out to a fair surface by inserting a thin wedge or piece of material’ (Century Dict.). Also const. out. Cf. shimmer n.2 and shimming. N. Amer.
| 1937 H. E. Stafford Troubles of Electr. Equip. iii. 46 The only permanent way is..by decreasing the air gap by shimming the pole shoes. 1967 E. B. Nickerson Kayaks to Arctic xiv. 126 Each cabin had a single door, well shimmed but still hanging out of plumb. 1974 R. M. Pirsig Zen & Art of Motorcycle Maintenance v. 57 You're going to have to shim those out. |
b. Criminals' slang (chiefly U.S.). To open (a lock or door) with a shim. Cf. shim n.2 5 b.
| 1972 J. Wambaugh Blue Knight (1973) ii. 25 The burglar..would shim doors which isn't too hard to do in any hotel. |