shelter
Americannoun
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something beneath, behind, or within which a person, animal, or thing is protected from storms, missiles, adverse conditions, etc.; refuge.
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the protection or refuge afforded by such a thing.
He took shelter in a nearby barn.
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protection from blame, incrimination, etc.
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a dwelling place or home considered as a refuge from the elements.
Everyone's basic needs are food, clothing, and shelter.
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a building serving as a temporary refuge or residence for abandoned animals, people who are homeless, etc.: animal shelter.
homeless shelter;
animal shelter.
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Finance. tax shelter.
verb (used with object)
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to be a shelter for; afford shelter to.
The old barn sheltered him from the rain.
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to provide with a shelter; place under cover.
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to protect, as by shelter; take under one's protection.
Parents should not try to shelter their children from normal childhood disappointments.
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Finance. to invest (money) in a tax shelter.
verb (used without object)
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to take shelter; find a refuge.
Students sheltered in the gymnasium when they heard the tornado sirens.
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Finance. to invest money in a tax shelter.
noun
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something that provides cover or protection, as from weather or danger; place of refuge
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the protection afforded by such a cover; refuge
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the state of being sheltered
verb
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(tr) to provide with or protect by a shelter
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(intr) to take cover, as from rain; find refuge
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(tr) to act as a shelter for; take under one's protection
Related Words
See cover.
Other Word Forms
- self-shelter noun
- shelterer noun
- shelteringly adverb
- shelterless adjective
- shelterlessness noun
- unsheltering adjective
Etymology
Origin of shelter
First recorded in 1575–85; of uncertain origin; perhaps alteration of obsolete sheltron “testudo” (a protective vault formed of Roman legionaries' shields), Old English scieldtruma, equivalent to scield + truma “body of men in battle formation”; shield ( def. ), trim
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For Lakkis, Lebanon doesn't have enough accessible shelters: the few schools able to receive people with disabilities fill up quickly.
From Barron's
Running a hand through her wet hair creates a grim mental picture: emerging from the shelter to find reporters in the neighborhood, trying to interview her while she looks like a bedraggled cat.
From Literature
Spying an empty bus shelter on the opposite side of the street, I sit on the icy metal bench and wrap my arms tight around my calves, rest my forehead on my knees.
From Literature
There are a substantial amount of post offices in this country that were built, I believe, during World War II and were initially set up to be localized shelters in the event of war.
From Los Angeles Times
"But surely we could have done something far more sensibly costed for bat shelter."
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
