Shame (?), n. [OE. shame,
schame, AS. scamu, sceamu; akin to OS. & OHG.
scama, G. scham, Icel. skömm, shkamm,
Sw. & Dan. skam, D. & G. schande, Goth. skanda
shame, skaman sik to be ashamed; perhaps from a root
skam meaning to cover, and akin to the root (kam) of G.
hemd shirt, E. chemise. Cf. Sham.]
1. A painful sensation excited by a consciousness
of guilt or impropriety, or of having done something which injures
reputation, or of the exposure of that which nature or modesty prompts
us to conceal.
HIde, for shame,
Romans, your grandsires' images,
That blush at their degenerate progeny.
Dryden.
Have you no modesty, no maiden
shame?
Shak.
2. Reproach incurred or suffered; dishonor;
ignominy; derision; contempt.
Ye have borne the shame of the
heathen.
Ezek. xxxvi. 6.
Honor and shame from no condition
rise.
Pope.
And every woe a tear can claim
Except an erring sister's shame.
Byron.
3. The cause or reason of shame; that which
brings reproach, and degrades a person in the estimation of others;
disgrace.
O C?sar, what a wounding shame is
this!
Shak.
Guides who are the shame of
religion.
Shak.
4. The parts which modesty requires to be
covered; the private parts. Isa. xlvii. 3.
For shame! you should be ashamed; shame on
you! -- To put to shame, to cause to feel
shame; to humiliate; to disgrace. "Let them be driven backward
and put to shame that wish me evil." Ps. xl. 14.
Shame, v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Shamed (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Shaming.] 1. To make ashamed; to excite in
(a person) a comsciousness of guilt or impropriety, or of conduct
derogatory to reputation; to put to shame.
Were there but one righteous in the world, he would . .
. shame the world, and not the world him.
South.
2. To cover with reproach or ignominy; to
dishonor; to disgrace.
And with foul cowardice his carcass
shame.
Spenser.
3. To mock at; to deride. [Obs. or
R.]
Ye have shamed the counsel of the
poor.
Ps. xiv. 6.Shame, v. i. [AS. scamian,
sceamian. See Shame, n.] To be
ashamed; to feel shame. [R.]
I do shame
To think of what a noble strain you are.
Shak.