Shield definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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Definitions (52)

American Heritage Dictionary (17)

noun A broad piece of armor made of rigid material and strapped to the arm or carried in the hand for protection against hurled or thrusted weapons.
noun A person or thing that provides protection.
noun A protective device or structure, as:

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Century Dictionary (28)

A frame or rounded plate made of wood, metal, hide, or leather, carried by warriors on the arm or in the hand, as a defense, from remote antiquity until the perfection of firearms rendered it more an encumbrance than a safeguard, and by savage peoples to the present day. Specifically, as distinguished from the buckler, a large implement of the sort, covering the body at least on one side, and carried on the arm, which passed through rings or straps on its inner side, or hung around the neck by a guige or strap. The shield of the middle ages was in the tenth century very long, pointed at the bottom and rounded at the top. (See kite-shield, below.) At later periods it was changed in size and shape, becoming shorter and smaller, at first triangular and afterward broad, short, and pointed. (See écu, and tilling-shield (below).) In the fifteenth century the shield proper was relegated to the just, and soon after disappeared altogether. (For the hand-shield used for parrying blows, see buckler; for the large shield used in sieges, see pavise.) Shields of barbarous peoples differ greatly in size, shape, and material: thus, those of the peoples of South Africa, made of hide, are nearly six feet long; those of the Mussulman nations are much smaller and usually round. See also cuts under buckler, enarme, hoplite, orle, pavise, pelta, rondache, and scutum. What signe is the levest To haue schape in thi scheld to scheue armes? William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), l. 3214. So to the fight the thick battalions throng, Shields urg'd on shields, and men drove men along. Pope, Iliad, iv. 485.
Anything that protects or is used as a protection. A movable screen, usually of steel serving to protect heavy guns and the gunners while serving them. A similar contrivance is used by sappers. In mining, a framework erected for the protection of a miner in working an adit, pushed forward as the work progresses. In submarine work, a construction at the head of a tunnel to keep back the silt or clays as the tunnel is advanced. In some operations the shield is left permanently in place, being covered in by the brickwork that follows close behind the excavation. The work of excavating in the tunnel will be done with large steel shields, 22 feet in diameter. Sci. Amer., N. S., IX. 41.
A fender-plate attached to the share of a corn-plow to prevent clods from rolling on to the young plants. E. H. Knight.

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Examples (50)

Where the sea had intruded, the shield was a rash of little glowing islands marking forgotten hills and highlands. — F ;SF; - vol 102 issue 03 - March 2002
This shield is a polished and gleaming work of art so famous that its design had Homer devote a full book of the Iliad to it; the shield has also been the subject of many stand-alone poems, including my favorite by Robert Graves. — Dan Simmons - Hockenberry 1 - Ilium
Earth had a shield, and a shield is the very next thing to a weapon. — The Cosmic Rape
Washington says the shield is aimed against what it calls "rogue states" like Iran, not Russia. — Breaking News - The Post Chronicle
Washington says the shield is aimed against what it calls "rogue states" like — Yahoo! News: Top Stories

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armor · weapon · sword · screen · barrier · beam · ring · plate · frame · belt · cover · bow

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Middle English sheld, from Old English scield; see skel-¹ in Indo-European roots.

Century Dictionary (2)

Early modern English also sheild; from Middle English sheeld, sheelde, scheeld, sheld, scheld, shelde, schelde, from Anglo-Saxon scild, scield, sceld, scyld, a shield, = OS.scild = OF ries. skeld = Dutch schild = Middle Low German schilt, Low German schild = Old High German scilt, Middle High German schilt, a shield, German schild, shield, coat of arms, trade-sign, = Icelandic skjöldr (plural skildir) =Swedish sköld = Danish skjold, a shield, skilt, badge, trade-sign, = Goth, skildus, a shield: root unknown. Some connect the word with shell and scale, as denoting a thin piece of wood or metal (see shell and scale), others with Icelandic skella, skjalla, clash, rattle.
Early modern English also sheila; from Middle English shelden, schelden, shilden, schilden, schylden, scilden, from Anglo-Saxon scildan, scyldan, gescildan = Icelandic skjalda, protect, guard, defend, shield; from the noun.

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