A shed is generally a modest, single-storey structure, usually constructed of wood in a back garden or on an allotment, used for storage and as a workshop and very often as a retreat in which to relax and pursue hobbies, especially gardening and small engine tinkering.

The word is recorded in English since 1481, as shadde, possibly a variant of shade, the root meaning being shelter.

Building

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Sheds are often highly individual and personalized, and the larger shed will be made comfortable by adapting worn out furniture. Along with tools and equipment, they generally house a cornucopia of items unwanted in the house that might, one day, prove useful. A small shed used primarily for the storage of tools is referred to as a toolshed, which may maximize the space for storing such implements through a system of shelves and hooks.

Sheds can also be auxilliary buildings in larger complexes, such as military barracks which may include a vehicle shed and/or in mounted units a forge and shoeing shed in a detached block near the troop stables.

In Australia and, particularly, New Zealand a shed is also any building, of any construction or size, that is not a residence and that may be open at the ends or sides, or both.

A popular style for smaller storage sheds have a gambrel-style roof, which resemble a Dutch-style barn, and the high sloping roof line increases storage space in the 'loft'.

Other uses

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"Behind the bicycle/bike shed", in British and Australian contexts, is a place for covert activities at school, out of sight, out of earshot; examples are smoking, fighting and sexual activities.

"Behind the woodshed" has a similar meaning.

The woodshed treatment is an expression for rather severe physical punishment, originating from the practice of rural fathers taking a boy who did soemthing considered very naughty to the shed or the barn, where other family members neither see nor hear them, in order to administer a spanking in private, often bared and bent over a work bench or so. The expression has stuck, even in an urbanized context, as in BDSM or for painful hazing.

"Woodshedding" is a musical term (usually in Jazz) for working on just one short section of a piece, to perfect and memorize it.

See also

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• Shanty
• Wendy house

Sources and references

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(incomplete?)

• Gordon Thorburn, Men and Sheds, ISBN 1843303299
• Michael MacCambridge, "ESPN College Football Encyclopedia : The Complete History of the Game", ISBN 1401337031, at 5,881.

External links

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• Usenet newsgroup: ^*
• Outdoor Storage Sheds Information on the different types of storage sheds.
• www.readersheds.co.uk Share your shed and view other sheddie's sheds.

Buildings and structures | Agricultural buildings

Shed