Shim vs Whim - What's the difference?
shim | whim |
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.
To fit one or more shims to a piece of machinery
To adjust something by using shims
(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:
* 1995 , The Advocate - May 30, 1995 - Page 11:
(informal, often, derogatory) hermaphrodite.
A fanciful impulse, or whimsical idea
* Churchill
(mining) A large capstan or vertical drum turned by horse power or steam power, for raising ore or water, etc., from mines, or for other purposes
As nouns the difference between shim and whim
is that shim is a wedge while whim is a fanciful impulse, or whimsical idea.As a verb shim
is to fit one or more shims to a piece of machinery.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)Verb
Etymology 2
.Noun
(en noun)- He — or "Shim " (she/him), as film director John Waters called the actor Divine — was as much a paradoxical as a perverse fellow.
- "We call him shim — short for 'she-him.'
References
Anagrams
* ----whim
English
(wikipedia whim)Etymology 1
Apocopal derivation of "whim-wham."Noun
(en noun)- Let every man enjoy his whim .
Synonyms
* (fancy) lark, especially in phrase on a whimDerived terms
* on a whim * whim gin * whim shaft * whimsicalExternal links
*Picture of a horse-powered whim used to wind the cables on to work the mine between the depth of 50 feet to 500 feet - photo taken at Gympie, Queensland, Australia