▪ I. shun, n. rare—1.
(ʃʌn)
[f. the verb.]
The action of shunning; in phr. upon the shun.
| 1822 Scott Peveril Pref. Let., Our friend is so much upon the shun..that it must be no light temptation which will withdraw him from his incognito. |
▪ II. shun, v.
(ʃʌn)
Pa. tense and pple. shunned (ʃʌnd). Forms: α. 1 scunian, 3 scunien, schunien, shunen(n, sconien, sonen, sunen, schunen, 3–4 schonen, schonie, 4 shonie, -ye, schonne, schwne, 4–5 shonen, shone, schone, 4–6 shonne, 4–7 shunne, 5–6 shon (6 schune, shonn), 6– shun; irreg. pa. tense 7 (once) shan. β. 1 -sceonian (in compounds), north. (ᵹi)scynia, 3 sceonie, 4 shine, shenye, 5 pa. tense shynte.
[OE. scunian (chiefly in compounds, á-, onscunian), a wk. verb not found in the other Teut. langs. Of obscure origin.
If the primary sense was ‘to hide oneself (from)’, the vb. might be a derivative from the Teut. and Indogermanic root *sku- to cover, hide.
The β forms are prob. due to the effect of the palatal sc on the following vowel.]
† 1. trans. To abhor, detest, loathe. Obs.
| 1023 in Thorpe Dipl. Angl. Sax. (1865) 318 Of eallan ðan mannan ðe ðær ᵹehænde beoð mid ane mode wurð he ᵹescunned. a 1200 Vices & Virtues 7 Þat ȝie hatien and scunien, ouer alle þing, ðes awerȝhede senne. c 1200 Ormin 2550 Drihhtin shuneþþ alle þa Þatt unnclænnesse follȝhenn. c 1205 Lay. 14869–72 Mi uader..scunede [c 1275 sonede] þene cristindom & þa hæðene laȝen luuede..þa we sculleð sceonien [c 1275 hatie]. a 1250 Owl & Night. 229 For vych þing þat schonyeþ riht, hit luuyeþ þuster & hateþ lyht. Ibid. 792 Vor myne crafte men me luuyeþ Vor þine strengþe men þe schunyeþ. |
† 2. a. To seek safety by concealment or flight from (an enemy, his pursuit, etc.). Obs.
| a 950 Guthlac xix. (Gonser) 159/7 And hine Ceolred se kyning hider and þider wide aflymde, an he his ehtnysse and his hatunge fleah and scunode. 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. vi. 44 The Mouse ne're shunn'd the Cat, as they did budge From Rascals worse then they. 1638 W. Lisle Heliodorus ii. 36 A liuing Greeke from dead ægyptian ran, And long time that, which could not hurt him, shan. |
b. To evade, elude (a blow, missile). Obs.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (Sommer) 317 b, But Amphialus seeing the blow comming, shunned it with nimble turning his horse aside. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. v. 4 [He] lightly shunned it [the stroke]. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 810, I forewarn thee, shun His deadly arrow. |
3. To avoid (in mod. prose use always to avoid persistently or habitually) from repugnance, fear, or caution; to keep away from (a person or his society, a place, etc.); to avoid encountering or exposing oneself to (dangers, conditions), using or having to do with (a thing); to eschew, abstain carefully from (an action, an indulgence, etc.). a. with obj. a person, his company, etc.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 79 Al se hwat se he forgulte wes al [animals] hit him ulel [? read uleh] and scunede. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1864 Ðat folkes kin god bad him sunen. 13.. K. Alis. 6157 (Laud MS.), Aqueyntaunce of alle men hij shoneþ. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 427 Euery man hym shonyeth. 1393 Ibid. C. xiv. 245 Ech man shoneþ hus companye. a 1450 Lovelich Grail lv. 76 The kyng was A lepre..and so Orible..that Eche Man schoned his Compenye. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 142 If you will patiently dance in our Round,..goe with vs; If not, shun me and I will spare your haunts. 1607 Rowlands Famous Hist. 13 Society he shuns, and keeps alone. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 319 So passd they naked on, nor shund the sight Of God or Angel. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 88 Then he that sharp'd..Was mark'd and shunn'd as odious. Ibid. vi. 307 The tim'rous hare..Scarce shuns me. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. viii, So..shunning human approach, this troublesome old woman hid herself. 1880 Dixon Windsor III. xxiv. 238 The nobler class of Catholics shunned him. |
b. with obj. a thing, a place, external conditions or circumstances, dangers, an enemy, etc.
| c 1200 Ormin 9395 Ȝiff þatt tin eȝhe iss ali unnhal..Itt shuneþþ..Þe sunness brihhte leome. a 1225 Ancr. R. 86 Vor ȝif heo hit [hore fulðe] stunken, ham wolde..speowen hit ut þer, and schunien hit þer efter. a 1250 Owl & Night. 590 (Jesus MS.) Þar to þu draust..& oþer clene stude þu schunest. 1382 Wyclif Lev. xi. 11 Ȝe shulen not eete the flesh of hem, and the faln to deeth ȝe shulen shonne [1388 eschewe]. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1548 Bot euery mon may well knowe & wyte What he was, by-cause þat he shynte & dred þe cresse. 1577 Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. i. 18 Yf.. you finde it sweete, it is a signe of riche grounde..yf it be saltishe, it is to be shunned. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. i. iii. 78 Thus haue I shund the fire, for feare of burning. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. ¶9 Neither is it the true man that shunneth the light, but the malefactour. 1697 Dryden æneid Ded. (e), I have shun'd the Cæsura as much as possibly I cou'd. For wherever that is us'd it gives a roughness to the Verse. 1710–11 Atterbury Serm. (1734) III. 93 It is not supposed, that we should have Power always to Resist, unless we before-hand do what is in our Power to Shun Temptation. 1717 Prior Alma i. 482 He hates the fight, and shuns the foe. 1781 Cowper Charity 239 Thy lips have..Taught me what path to shun and what pursue. 1847 Tennyson Princess Prol. 38 O noble heart who..Nor bent, nor broke, nor shunn'd a soldier's death. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 616 They rode on all day, shunning towns and villages. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi x. 204 A strange superstition makes them shun this sacred place. |
| absol. 1818 Shelley Lines Euganean Hills 23 The dreamer..Longing with divided will, But no power to seek or shun. |
c. with obj. a mode of action, expression, or behaviour, an occupation, employment, subject of conversation, a mental condition or the like (often expressed by inf. or gerund).
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 111 Þet clene wif scunað ȝitsunge. c 1200 Ormin 4502 Itt niss nohht lihht To betenn hefiȝ sinne, & forrþi birrþ þe shunenn aȝȝ To fallenn ohht tærinne. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 13 Þe man þe hit meðeð riht þe suneð aleð gestninge and idel wil. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 449 Wiþ us schineþ euery schalk in schippus for to saile. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 459 We schoneþ and forsakeþ foule slewþe and leccherie. a 1400 New Test. (Paues) Tit. iii. 9 Bote schenye þou questyones of foly. c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. xiii. 227 The vce of thilk thing is to be shoned, eschewid, and avoidid. 1544 Betham Precepts War i. cxl. G vij b, Commaunde your souldyours, that they shunne to spoyle and robbe temples. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. x. 60 Thenceforth the suit of earthly conquest shonne. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 16, I ever shunned to goe twice one way. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. ix. 21 Had not Phœbus warn'd me..To shun debate, Menalcas had been slain. 1742 Berkeley Let. Wks. 1871 IV. 282, I would say, shun late hours. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 19 The thorny subject which they were delicately shunning in their conversation. 1847 Tennyson Princess iii. 205 We touch on our dead self, nor shun to do it. 1868 Nettleship Ess. Browning i. 40 The majority of those who are growing old..shun looking back at all. |
| absol. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 169 Amonge monkes I miȝt be ac many tyme I shonye. |
d. transf. and fig. Said poet. of things.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1101 So clene was his hondelyng vche ordure hit schonied. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 116 Scarcity and want shall shun you. 1701 Addison Let. fr. Italy 56 See how the golden groves around me smile, That shun the coast of Britain's stormy Isle. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab iv. 101 The meteor-happiness, that shuns his grasp. |
4. a. To escape (a threatened evil, an unwelcome task). Now rare or Obs.
| c 1275 Moral Ode 159 in O.E. Misc. 63 Eure he wolde..in godnesse wuyne Wiþ þat he myhte helle fur euer fleon and schonye. 1413–46 Hoccleve Minor P. i. 193 How may we two, the deeth eschue or shone? 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 13 They follow vs with Wings, And weake we are, and cannot shun pursuite. 1614 Gorges Lucan vii. 295 That thus repulst thou shunst the griefe To see the slaughtred heapes that lye? 1667 Milton P.L. x. 1062 [He will] teach us further by what means to shun Th' inclement Seasons, Rain, Ice, Hail and Snow. 1784 Johnson in Boswell (1904) II. 537 If a man were to go by chance at the same time with Burke under a shed, to shun a shower. 1870 Bryant Iliad I. vi. 207 No man of woman born Coward or brave, can shun his destiny. |
† b. To prevent the occurrence of (an action, event), to guard against (some inconvenience). Obs.
| 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 111 Bot Henry Dauid sonne,..Contek for to schonne, to Steuen mad feaute. 1613 Lady E. Carew Mariam i. i, For hee by barring me from libertie, To shunne my ranging, taught me first to range. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 245 To shun this Ill, the cunning Leach ordains..To feed the Females, e'er the Sun arise. 1796 Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 154, I devoutly wish you may be able to shun for us this war. 1798 Bloomfield Farmer's Boy, Spring 159 Prowling Reynard..To shun whose thefts was Giles's evening care. |
† 5. intr. To shrink with dread; to be afraid. Obs.
| a 1000 Durham Ritual 32/5 Giscynia, metuere. a 1300 Cursor M. 15173 Þe fleche was dutand for to dei,..It was ful sconand for þe sare. a 1325 Maudelein 24 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 163 For euer he schoneþ þat haþ misgilt. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints iv. (Jacobus) 164 Þe bukis all he brocht..and prayt him to bryne þam sone. ‘Na’, said he, ‘for þat I schone þe rek of þame suld noyus be’. c 1440 York Myst. x. 244 It is goddis will, it sall be myne, Agaynste his saande sall I neuer schone. |
† 6. a. To shrink back physically; to move or go aside (so as to escape or evade some person or thing); to fly (from an enemy, etc.); also with aside, away. Obs.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 14128 Þey couþe nought fighte, ne to-gydere wone, Ne at tyme stande ne schone. a 1375 Joseph Arim. 496 Betere hit were douhtilyche to diȝen on or oune, þen wiþ schendschupe to schone and vs a-bak drawe. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 314 Ne no more schoune fore þe swape of theire scharpe suerddes. 14.. Sir Beues (O) 3591 Fro his stroke away they dyd shone. 1530 Palsgr. 704/1 And I had nat shonned asyde, he had hyt me in the eye. 1577 Test. 12 Patriarchs (1706) 152 If ye be good doers, both unclean spirits shall flee from you, and shrewd beasts shall shun for fear of you. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (Sommer) 269 He shunned as much as he could, keeping onely his place for feare of punishment. a 1600 Flodden Field xli. in Child Ballads III. 357/1 Doubtlesse while your liues wold last you wold never shun beside the plaine. |
| fig. 1572 J. Jones Bathes of Bathes Ayde ii. 18 b, The salte taste is that, which..byteth the tonge... The bitter taste is that, which seemeth to shunne away from the tongue. |
b. To keep away, refrain from. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. iv. 23 Sone, waite tyme, and shone awei fro euel [Vulg. devita a malo]. 1578 Hunnis in Parad. Dainty Devises 24 To shonn, from bralls, debate and strife. |
7. trans. To screen, hide. Now only dial.
| 1627 C. Mageoghegan tr. Ann. Clonmacnoise 12 Fintan..shunned himself from the violence thereof [i.e. of the flood] in a caue. Ibid. 13 All the foule..gathered themselves there to shunn themselves. 1890 Glouc. Gloss., Shun, to screen, e.g., a shrub planted to hide back premises. |
8. dial. To shove, push. [Perh. another word.] Cf. shunt v. 3.
| 1674 Ray S. & E.C. Words 76 To Shun: to shove. Suss. 1851 N. & Q. Ser. i. III. 205/1 In an assault case at Reigate, I heard the complainant say of a man who had hustled him, ‘He kept shunning me along: sometimes he shunt me on the road’. 1875 W. D. Parish Sussex Gloss. s.v. Shun, He shunned me off the pavement. 1876 Surrey Gloss., s.v., They havn't made the hole large enough to get a stick in to shun the dung back. |
9. Comb. † shun-field, one who shuns the battlefield; shun-pike U.S. (see quot. 1911); hence shunpike v. intr., to drive along minor roads, avoiding the toll on turnpikes, or for pleasure; shunpiker; shun-piking vbl. n.; † shun-thank, one who grudges thanks.
| 1675 Hobbes Odyss. xiv. 199 My vertue won her, I no shun-field [ϕυγοπτόλεµο] was. |
| 1853 Albany Even. Atlas 9 Apr. 4 The Oswego Canal..has been called a ‘shun pike’. Produce sent by Lake Ontario and the Oswego Canal, avoids tolls on the canals west of Syracuse. 1862 Lowell Biglow P. Ser. ii. ii. 22 Ef your soul Don't sneak thru shun-pikes so 's to save the toll. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 1053/1 A shunpike, or road constructed to facilitate evasion of tolls on a turnpike road, may be closed by injunction. 1964 Collier's Encycl. Yearbk. 70 Besides making long trips at high speed, motorists could take part in sports car rallies, chug about in antiques, ‘shunpike’ on quiet back roads. 1967 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 22 Apr. 55 (Advt.), Smooth roads, beautiful scenery—what more could a shunpiker want? |
| 1961 M. Beadle These Ruins are Inhabited iv. 41 George's reaction was to avoid all main roads—which is a good idea anyway if you're not in a hurry, the virtues of shun-piking being self-evident. 1972 Alberta Motorist (Edmonton) Apr. 6/3 There are, of course, many times when shunpiking is preferable for the traveller. |
| 1593 Passionate Morrice 81 But were not they shonne-thanks they would speake better of Honesties sonne. |