shim

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃɪm/
• Rhymes: -ɪm

Etymology 1

Unknown; from Kent. 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.

Noun

shim (plural shims)

1. A wedge.
2. A thin piece of material, sometimes tapered, used for alignment or support.
3. (computing) A small library that transparently intercepts and modifies calls to an API, usually for compatibility purposes.
4. A kind of shallow plow used in tillage to break the ground and clear it of weeds.
5. A small metal device used to pick open a lock.

Verb

shim (third-person singular simple present shims, present participle shimming, simple past and past participle shimmed)

1. To fit one or more shims to a piece of machinery
2. To adjust something by using shims

Etymology 2

From she +‎ him.

Noun

shim (plural shims)

1. (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.'

2. (informal, often derogatory) hermaphrodite.

Anagrams

• mish

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Kanuri

Noun

shim

1. eye