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Shim vs Sham - What's the difference?

shim | sham |

As nouns the difference between shim and sham

is that shim is a wedge while sham is a fake; an imitation that purports to be genuine.

As verbs the difference between shim and sham

is that shim is to fit one or more shims to a piece of machinery while sham is to deceive, cheat, lie.

As an adjective sham is

intended to deceive; false.

shim

English

Etymology 1

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

(en noun)
  • 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

    • Etymology 2

    .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (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.

    • References

    Anagrams

    * ----

    sham

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Intended to deceive; false.
    • It was only a sham wedding: they didn't care much for one another but wanted their parents to stop hassling them.
  • counterfeit; unreal
  • * Jowett
    • They scorned the sham independence proffered to them by the Athenians.

    Synonyms

    * mock * See also

    Antonyms

    * genuine * sincere * real

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A fake; an imitation that purports to be genuine.
    • The time-share deal was a sham .
  • Trickery, hoaxing.
    • A con-man must be skilled in the arts of sham and deceit.
  • A false front, or removable ornamental covering.
  • A decorative cover for a pillow.

    • Derived terms

    * shamateur

    See also

    * pillow sham

    Verb

    (shamm)
  • To deceive, cheat, lie.
  • * L'Estrange
    • Fooled and shammed into a conviction.
  • To obtrude by fraud or imposition.
  • * L'Estrange
    • We must have a care that we do not sham fallacies upon the world for current reason.
  • To assume the manner and character of; to imitate; to ape; to feign.

    • External links

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    Anagrams

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