*shall*

v. i. & auxiliary. [ imp. Should ] [ OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen, pres. zal, imp. zoude, zou, OHG. solan, scolan, pres. scal, sol. imp. scolta, solta, G. sollen, pres. soll, imp. sollte, Icel. skulu, pres. skal, imp. skyldi, SW. skola, pres. skall, imp. skulle, Dan. skulle, pres. skal, imp. skulde, Goth. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skulda, and to AS. scyld guilt, G. schuld guilt, fault, debt, and perhaps to L. scelus crime. ] [ Shall is defective, having no infinitive, imperative, or participle. ] 1. To owe; to be under obligation for. [ Obs. ] “By the faith I shall to God” Court of Love. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be obliged; must. [ Obs. ] “Me athinketh [ I am sorry ] that I shall rehearse it her.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. As an auxiliary, shall indicates a duty or necessity whose obligation is derived from the person speaking; as, you shall go; he shall go; that is, I order or promise your going. It thus ordinarily expresses, in the second and third persons, a command, a threat, or a promise. If the auxillary be emphasized, the command is made more imperative, the promise or that more positive and sure. It is also employed in the language of prophecy; as, “the day shall come when . . . , ” since a promise or threat and an authoritative prophecy nearly coincide in significance. In shall with the first person, the necessity of the action is sometimes implied as residing elsewhere than in the speaker; as, I shall suffer; we shall see; and there is always a less distinct and positive assertion of his volition than is indicated by will. “I shall go” implies nearly a simple futurity; more exactly, a foretelling or an expectation of my going, in which, naturally enough, a certain degree of plan or intention may be included; emphasize the shall, and the event is described as certain to occur, and the expression approximates in meaning to our emphatic “I will go.” In a question, the relation of speaker and source of obligation is of course transferred to the person addressed; as, “Shall you go?” (answer, “I shall go”); “Shall he go?” i. e., “Do you require or promise his going?” (answer, “He shall go”.) The same relation is transferred to either second or third person in such phrases as “You say, or think, you shall go;” “He says, or thinks, he shall go.” After a conditional conjunction (as if, whether) shall is used in all persons to express futurity simply; as, if I, you, or he shall say they are right. Should is everywhere used in the same connection and the same senses as shall, as its imperfect. It also expresses duty or moral obligation; as, he should do it whether he will or not. In the early English, and hence in our English Bible, shall is the auxiliary mainly used, in all the persons, to express simple futurity. (Cf. Will, v. t.) Shall may be used elliptically; thus, with an adverb or other word expressive of motion go may be omitted. “He to England shall along with you.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Shall and will are often confounded by inaccurate speakers and writers. Say: I shall be glad to see you. Shall I do this? Shall I help you? (not Will I do this?) See Will. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Challis. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) An evergreen shrub (Gaultheria Shallon) of Northwest America; also, its fruit. See Salal-berry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. chalon, from Châlons, in France, where it was first made. ] A thin, loosely woven, twilled worsted stuff. [ 1913 Webster ]

In blue shalloon shall Hannibal be clad. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. chaloupe, probably from D. sloep. Cf. Sloop. ] (Naut.) A boat. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ She ] thrust the shallop from the floating strand. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The term shallop is applied to boats of all sizes, from a light canoe up to a large boat with masts and sails. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. eschalote (for escalone), F. échalote. See Scallion, and cf. Eschalot. ] (Bot.) A small kind of onion (Allium Ascalonicum) growing in clusters, and ready for gathering in spring; a scallion, or eschalot. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Shallower superl. Shallowest. ] [ OE. schalowe, probably originally, sloping or shelving; cf. Icel. skjālgr wry, squinting, AS. sceolh, D. & G. scheel, OHG. schelah. Cf. Shelve to slope, Shoal shallow. ] 1. Not deep; having little depth; shoal. “Shallow brooks, and rivers wide.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not deep in tone. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The sound perfecter and not so shallow and jarring. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Not intellectually deep; not profound; not penetrating deeply; simple; not wise or knowing; ignorant; superficial; as, a shallow mind; shallow learning. [ 1913 Webster ]

The king was neither so shallow, nor so ill advertised, as not to perceive the intention of the French king. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Deep versed in books, and shallow in himself. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A place in a body of water where the water is not deep; a shoal; a flat; a shelf. [ 1913 Webster ]

A swift stream is not heard in the channel, but upon shallows of gravel. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dashed on the shallows of the moving sand. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The rudd. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make shallow. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To become shallow, as water. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Naut.) Having a moderate depth of hold; -- said of a vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Weak in intellect; foolish; empty-headed. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Incapable of deep feeling. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a shallow manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality or state of being shallow. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Shallow-brained. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Naut.) Having a flush deck, or with only a moderate depression amidships; -- said of a vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } adv. [ A reduplication of shall I. ] In an irresolute, undecided, or hesitating manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

I am somewhat dainty in making a resolution, because when I make it, I keep it; I don't stand shill-I-shall-I then; if I say 't, I'll do 't. Congreve. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To hesitate; to act in an irresolute manner; hence, to occupy one's self with trifles. [ 1913 Webster ]