Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Shrew \Shrew\, n. [See {Shrew}, a.]
   1. Originally, a brawling, turbulent, vexatious person of
      either sex, but now restricted in use to females; a
      brawler; a scold.

            A man . . . grudgeth that shrews [i. e., bad men]
            have prosperity, or else that good men have
            adversity.                            --Chaucer.

            A man had got a shrew to his wife, and there could
            be no quiet in the house for her.     --L'Estrange.

   2. [AS. scre['a]wa; -- so called because supposed to be
      venomous. ] (Zo["o]l.) Any small insectivore of the genus
      {Sorex} and several allied genera of the family
      {Sorecid[ae]}. In form and color they resemble mice, but
      they have a longer and more pointed nose. Some of them are
      the smallest of all mammals.

   Note: The common European species are the house shrew
         ({Crocidura araneus}), and the erd shrew ({Sorex
         vulgaris}) (see under {Erd}.). In the United States
         several species of {Sorex} and {Blarina} are common, as
         the broadnosed shrew ({S. platyrhinus}), Cooper's shrew
         ({S. Cooperi}), and the short-tailed, or mole, shrew
         ({Blarina brevicauda}). Th American water, or marsh,
         shrew ({Neosorex palustris}), with fringed feet, is
         less common. The common European water shrews are
         {Crossopus fodiens}, and the oared shrew (see under
         {Oared}).

   {Earth shrew}, any shrewlike burrowing animal of the family
      {Centetid[ae]}, as the tendrac.

   {Elephant shrew}, {Jumping shrew}, {Mole shrew}. See under
      {Elephant}, {Jumping}, etc.

   {Musk shrew}. See {Desman}.

   {River shrew}, an aquatic West African insectivore
      ({Potamogale velox}) resembling a weasel in form and size,
      but having a large flattened and crested tail adapted for
      rapid swimming. It feeds on fishes.

   {Shrew mole}, a common large North American mole ({Scalops
      aquaticus}). Its fine, soft fur is gray with iridescent
      purple tints.