Shim
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ʃɪm/
- Rhymes: -ɪm
Origin 1
Online Etymology Dictionary
Merriam Webster Online
Originally a piece of iron attached to a plow; sense of “thin piece of wood†from 1723, sense of “thin piece of material used for alignment or support†from 1860.
Full definition of shim
Noun
shim
(plural shims)- A wedge.
- A thin piece of material, sometimes tapered, used for alignment or support.
- (computing) A small library that transparently intercepts and modifies calls to an API, usually for compatibility purposes.
- A kind of shallow plow used in tillage to break the ground and clear it of weeds.
- A small metal device used to pick open a lock.
Verb
- To fit one or more shims to a piece of machinery
- To adjust something by using shims
Origin 2
Noun
shim
(plural shims)- (informal, often derogatory) a person characterised by both male and female traits, or by ambiguous male-female traits, also called a he-she; transsexual.
- 1998, Hobart Student Association, The Seneca review:He — or "Shim" (she/him), as film director John Waters called the actor Divine — was as much a paradoxical as a perverse fellow.
- 1995, The Advocate - May 30, 1995 - Page 11:"We call him shim— short for 'she-him.'
- (informal, often derogatory) hermaphrodite.