Illustration of shire
- shire 2
1
: an administrative subdivision
especially
: a county in England
2
: any of an old breed of large heavy draft horses of British origin having heavily feathered legs
Examples of shire in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The largest breed of horse is the English shire horse, a famous working breed of draft horse.
—
Kurt Snibbe, Oc Register, 14 Feb. 2026
Kate Moss has been photographed tramping around the same shire in muddy boots since the early 2000s.
—Anna Cooban, CNN Money, 24 Dec. 2025
As a child growing up in England, Adam Nicolson and his family paid little attention to the birds of their shire.
—Richard Horan, Christian Science Monitor, 25 Sep. 2025
If Route 100 is the region's quintessential drive, then the shire of Woodstock is its archetypal town, with the requisite covered bridges, general store, village green, and a public chalkboard that acts as a modern-day town crier with news of craft fairs and birthday wishes.
—Jen Murphy, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Oct. 2023
While Bilbo, played by Martin Freeman, is enjoying a quiet life in the shire, the wizard Gandalf, played by Sir Ian McKellen, asks him to join a group of dwarves on a quest to reclaim the kingdom of Erebo.
—Catherine Santino, Peoplemag, 7 Dec. 2022
More recently, his works have also provided a fertile shire for nationalists who see themselves in his heroic archetypes.
—Jason Horowitz, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Sep. 2022
To hear Cleveland’s brass, strings, and percussion was to be there on the battlefield with Aragorn, in the shire with Frodo, or in the molten depths beneath Saruman’s tower.
—Zachary Lewis, cleveland, 25 July 2022
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Kurt Snibbe, Oc Register, 14 Feb. 2026
Kate Moss has been photographed tramping around the same shire in muddy boots since the early 2000s.
—Anna Cooban, CNN Money, 24 Dec. 2025
As a child growing up in England, Adam Nicolson and his family paid little attention to the birds of their shire.
—Richard Horan, Christian Science Monitor, 25 Sep. 2025
If Route 100 is the region's quintessential drive, then the shire of Woodstock is its archetypal town, with the requisite covered bridges, general store, village green, and a public chalkboard that acts as a modern-day town crier with news of craft fairs and birthday wishes.
—Jen Murphy, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Oct. 2023
While Bilbo, played by Martin Freeman, is enjoying a quiet life in the shire, the wizard Gandalf, played by Sir Ian McKellen, asks him to join a group of dwarves on a quest to reclaim the kingdom of Erebo.
—Catherine Santino, Peoplemag, 7 Dec. 2022
More recently, his works have also provided a fertile shire for nationalists who see themselves in his heroic archetypes.
—Jason Horowitz, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Sep. 2022
To hear Cleveland’s brass, strings, and percussion was to be there on the battlefield with Aragorn, in the shire with Frodo, or in the molten depths beneath Saruman’s tower.
—Zachary Lewis, cleveland, 25 July 2022
Cite this Entry
“Shire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shire. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
shire
noun
ˈshī(ə)r 
in place-name compounds ˌshi(ə)r,
shər
1
: a county in England
2
: any of a British breed of tall draft horses
Geographical Definition
Shire
geographical name
Shi·re
ˈshē-(ˌ)rā
ˈshir-ē
river 250 miles (400 kilometers) long in southern Malawi and central Mozambique flowing from Lake Malawi south into the Zambezi River
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