shim n also shem. Cp OED ~ sb2 2 [sort of hoe or plough] local (1723-); 5 'thin slip used to fill up a space' U S (1864-).
1 A wooden implement like a spatula, used to strip the bark off trees in sheets.
[1776] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 183 This morning I manned four shims, and sent off two skiffs crews a rinding; they found but few, and got only thirty nitches. 1792 ibid Gloss i, xiv Shin [i.e. shim]. An instrument of wood, to take rinds off the trees. 1897 J A Folklore x, 209 ~ a bat-like instrument for taking the bark off trees. [c1900] 1978 RLS 8, 26 ~ chisel shaped piece of wood for taking off rinds. 1937 DEVINE 43 ~ A wooden sliver for peeling rinds off trees. T 36/8-64 You'd have what we used to call a shim, something like a slice, cut straight on the top side an' roundin' on the lower side—it would come right up to an edge, an' a handle on it about eight or nine inches long. You take that an' you shove it, with the sap in the tree, you'd shove it around the rine, an' the rine'd all cleave off o' the tree. T 141/68-651 You'd have a pork barrel stave called a shim, an' he'd be cut out like a little coal shovel; an' tapered away, an' he was a little bit rounding, see, so as the ends wouldn't hook, see, tear your rine. T 347/9-67 They made some sort of shims they used to call 'em, an' they took the rines off the big trees which they used for putting in store, spread out on the floor, when the fish was dry in the fall. C 75-146 ~ a hand-made wooden tool [about] two feet long with a flat end. The bark on the tree was split first and then the shim inserted. The bark was then pried off.
2 A pointed wooden implement used to pack moss in the chinks of a log-house.
T 43/7-64 If you build a log house, winter house, they'd stop them with moss. You have to make a shim to stog the moss in—a thin piece of wood, you usually use a barrel stave, oak stave, that would take more wear than soft wood. They use 'em in the lumber woods. 1974 MANNION 147 The abutting edges of the studs were 'stogged' or 'chintzed' with moss using a sharply pointed wooden implement called a 'shem.'
3 A wooden utensil for stirring or eating food; MUNDLE, SLICE.
P 148-65 A pine shim [was used] on ship to prepare and stir fish chowder made in big iron pot. M 68-16 The pot of stewed fish is placed in the center of the boat on the gang-plank. The crew sit around the pot and begin. Their spoons are called shims, which are wooden and made by the fishermen. P 143-74 The grub box [or bread box] was packed by one of the women ... and contained gingerbread, a crock of molasses, sweet-bread, milk, butter, tea, sugar, flour, fatback for frying the fish, and hardbread, as well as certain utensils such as shims (wooden spoons for eating fish) and mugs for drinking tea.
4 A wedge.
1897 J A Folklore x, 209 Shem. In Newfoundland it is employed to denote a thin piece of wood placed between the timber and plank of a vessel, where the plank does not fit solidly. P 148-65 [He went to a shoemaker] when he wanted a shim or wedge inserted between the inner and outer sole of his shoe. P 241-68 The door [of the lobster pot] is kept in place by a small wooden stick called a shim. P 122-73 A shim [is] a piece of wood used by carpenter for purposes of blocking and levelling.
