Shy /(shī)/

1. Easily frightened; timid; as, a shy bird.

   The horses of the army . . . were no longer shy, but would come up to my very feet without starting.

2. Reserved; coy; disinclined to familiar approach.

   What makes you so shy, my good friend? There's nobody loves you better than I.

   The embarrassed look of shy distress And maidenly shamefacedness.

3. Cautious; wary; suspicious.

   I am very shy of using corrosive liquors in the preparation of medicines.

   Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of thier successors.

4. Inadequately supplied; short; lacking; as, the team is shy two players. [Slang]
5. owing money to the pot; -- in cases where an opponent's bet has exceeded a player's available stake or chips, but the player chooses to continue playing the hand before adding the required bet to the pot. (Poker) [Slang]

imp. & p. p. Shied; p. pr. & vb. n. Shying

1. To start suddenly aside through fright or suspicion; -- said especially of horses.

1. To throw sidewise with a jerk; to fling; as, to shy a stone; to shy a slipper.

1. A sudden start aside, as by a horse.
2. A side throw; a throw; a fling.

   If Lord Brougham gets a stone in his hand, he must, it seems, have a shy at somebody.