Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to shred document

to shred document

5 3.9
To cut important papers into small pieces so no one can read them
  • phrasal verb
  • /ʃrɛd ˈdɒkjʊmənt/
: destruir documentos
  • Lawyers defined victory as providing an opinion that it was all right to shred documents—not, for example, whether it was ethical to shred documents.

Examples

  • Many businesses regularly shred documents to keep their clients' information safe.

  • Lawyers defined victory as providing an opinion that it was all right to shred documents—not, for example, whether it was ethical to shred documents.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Before disposing of old files, make sure to shred documents containing sensitive data.

  • It is crucial to shred documents that contain personal information to prevent identity theft.

Synonyms

to tear up
vsto shred document
124 2.7

To rip something into small pieces

is about secure disposal of sensitive papers, not casual manual destruction
to shred
vsto shred document
116 2.6

To tear something into small thin pieces

is done specifically to destroy papers and protect sensitive information
to rip up
vsto shred document
48 2.8

To tear something into small pieces

is used mainly to destroy papers for privacy rather than casual tearing
to rip to shreds
vsto shred document
  • Informal
13 6.9

Tear something into many pieces or say very bad things about it

is literal cutting of sensitive papers to protect private information

Antonyms

to preserve
504 3.4

To keep people and things safe from harm or change

How Destroyed

to incinerate
43 7.1
to burn
∞ 1.0
to shred document
5 3.9
to tear up
124 2.7
to discard
100 2.7

Surface Forms

shred document infinitive
shredded document past
shredded document past participle
shredding document present participle
shreds document third person singular

Morphology

shred + document

The meaning 'to cut a document into small pieces to destroy it' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'shred' (to rip or cut into thin pieces) with 'document' (a written or printed information item). This is a straightforward verb + object collocation following regular compositional patterns and has clear parallels in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Shred document comes from the simple image of putting a document into a machine that cuts it into many small pieces called shreds. So it means 'to destroy' a paper so no one can read it and to 'protect' private information.