share
1 Americannoun
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the full or proper portion or part allotted or belonging to or contributed or owed by an individual or group.
- Synonyms:
- lot, quota, assessment, ration, allocation, allotment
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one of the equal fractional parts into which the capital stock of a joint-stock company or a corporation is divided.
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Digital Technology.
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a digital file or document that can be accessed by specific users on a computer network, as for viewing, downloading, or making changes to it.
I just sent you a share—can you improve the second paragraph?
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an act of sharing online content with specific users on a computer network.
You can do a video share with friends and family.
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verb (used with object)
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to divide and distribute in shares; apportion.
- Synonyms:
- mete, dole (out), deal, parcel out, allot
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to use, participate in, enjoy, receive, etc., jointly.
The two chemists shared the Nobel Prize.
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Digital Technology. to give specific users access to (online content), as by posting it on a social media website or sending it as an email attachment: a shared spreadsheet.
to share photos on Instagram;
a shared spreadsheet.
verb (used without object)
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to have a share or part; take part (often followed byin ).
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to divide, apportion, or receive equally.
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Digital Technology. to give specific users access to online content.
You can share via email, Facebook, or Twitter.
adjective
idioms
noun
noun
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a part or portion of something owned, allotted to, or contributed by a person or group
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(often plural) any of the equal parts, usually of low par value, into which the capital stock of a company is divided: ownership of shares carries the right to receive a proportion of the company's profits See also ordinary shares preference shares
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informal to share (something) with another or others
verb
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to divide or apportion, esp equally
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to receive or contribute a portion of
we can share the cost of the petrol
six people shared in the inheritance
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to join with another or others in the use of (something)
can I share your umbrella?
noun
Synonym Usage
Share, partake, participate mean to join with others or to receive in common with others. To share is to give or receive a part of something, or to enjoy or assume something in common: to share in another's experiences. To partake is to take for one's own personal use a portion of something: to partake of food. To participate is especially to join with others in some thought, feeling, or, particularly, some action: to participate in a race, in a conversation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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sharernoun
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half-sharedadjective
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nonsharingadjective
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sharableadjective
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shareableadjective
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unsharableadjective
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unshareableadjective
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unsharedadjective
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unsharingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sharesimple
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sharessimple
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have sharedperfect
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has sharedperfect
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am sharingprogressive
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are sharingprogressive
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is sharingprogressive
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have been sharingperfect progressive
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has been sharingperfect progressive
Past
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sharedsimple
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had sharedperfect
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was sharingprogressive
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were sharingprogressive
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had been sharingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of share1
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English noun shar(e), sharre “cutting, division,” Old English scearu “fork of the body, groin”; cognate with Dutch schaar, German Schar “troop”; see shear
Origin of share2
First recorded before 900; Middle English shar(e), sharre, Old English scear, scer; cognate with German Schar; see shear
Explanation
When you hungrily eye the pizzas your friends ordered, count everyone in the room, and then mentally divide the number of slices by the number of people, you're figuring out your share, or portion, of pizza. Your share of something can be the part of the total that's due to you — your share of the piñata candy — or it can be the section of something you're responsible for, like doing your share of cleaning out the garage. When you use share as a verb, it means to give or distribute a portion of something. The word share and its meaning of dividing into pieces come from the Proto-Indo-European word sker, "to cut."
Vocabulary lists containing share
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Business, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This time, the instant reaction triggered a steep fall in energy and defense-related share prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
That translated into 33 cents per share compared with analyst estimates of 53 cents per share.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings per share to be $2.58 and adjusted earnings per share to be $5.14.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Second-quarter profit was $233 million, or 47 cents a share, compared with $213 million, or 39 cents a share, a year earlier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Maybe I’d get some popcorn, just in case I had an opportunity to share.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
IBM’s shares lost 25% of their value after the company issued a rare profit warning, marking the largest one-day drop on record.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Still, Yum shares have fallen 7.7% since the beginning of the month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
A secondary share sale sees existing shareholders sell stock to other investors, as opposed to a company issuing new shares.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
IBM shares fell 25% in a single day last week after that warning, in what marked their largest one-day decline on record.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
This room, this unit, it’s claustrophobic, but Ayesha shares hers with her brother, so the small space of my room gives her a sibling-free refuge.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
In a statement shared with local media outlets Tuesday, the family spokesperson said Forbes “regrets and apologizes for any and all behavior she exhibited during her personal mental health crisis.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Pete Hegseth shared the updated estimate yesterday—some $9 billion higher than earlier projections.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
In photos shared by the couple, Booysen can be seen wearing a floor length lace wedding dress with a floral pattern, while Donaldson opted for a white tuxedo.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
On Wednesday, Elon Musk shared a video created by an X user via the social media platform’s integrated generative AI, Grok.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
He thought that Handsome and Major Puff shared common qualities and might become good friends under the right circumstances.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Pamela Warner commemorated the anniversary of her son’s death on Tuesday, sharing photos from their past on the Instagram page dedicated to her son’s memory.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
US actress Rebecca Hall, who featured in both films with Hottle, paid tribute by sharing pictures of them together on set.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
In recent years, the number of users sharing personal stories of how cutoffs have improved their mental health has skyrocketed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Super Micro Computer delivered good news to investors on Tuesday, sharing in preliminary results for its fiscal fourth quarter that the company’s gross margins are expected to double from previous guidance.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
And sharing space with my entire family is awkward enough on vacation.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.