shield

[ sheeld ]

noun

1. a broad piece of armor, varying widely in form and size, carried apart from the body, usually on the left arm, as a defense against swords, lances, arrows, etc.
2. a similar device, often of lightweight plastic, used by riot police to protect themselves from rocks and other thrown objects.
3. something shaped like a shield, variously round, octagonal, triangular, or somewhat heart-shaped.
4. a person or thing that protects.
5. a police officer's, detective's, or sheriff's badge.
6. Ordnance. a steel screen attached to a gun to protect its crew, mechanism, etc.
7. Mining. a movable framework for protecting a miner from cave-ins, etc.
8. Electricity. a covering, usually made of metal, placed around an electric device or circuit in order to reduce the effects of external electric and magnetic fields.
9. Zoology. a protective plate or the like on the body of an animal, as a scute, enlarged scale, etc.
10. dress shield.
11. Heraldry. an escutcheon, especially one broad at the top and pointed at the bottom, for displaying armorial bearings.
12. Shield, Astronomy. the constellation Scutum.
13. Also called continental shield. Geology. a vast area of ancient crustal rocks which, together with a platform, constitutes a craton.
14. a protective barrier against nuclear radiation, especially a lead or concrete structure around a reactor.

verb (used with object)

1. to protect (someone or something) with or as if with a shield.
2. to serve as a protection for.
3. to hide or conceal; protect by hiding.
4. Obsolete. to avert; forbid.

verb (used without object)

1. to act or serve as a shield.

shield

/ ʃiːld /

noun

1. any protection used to intercept blows, missiles, etc, such as a tough piece of armour carried on the arm
2. any similar protective device
3. Also calledscutcheonescutcheon heraldry a pointed stylized shield used for displaying armorial bearings
4. anything that resembles a shield in shape, such as a prize in a sports competition
5. the protective outer covering of an animal, such as the shell of a turtle
6. physics a structure of concrete, lead, etc, placed around a nuclear reactor or other source of radiation in order to prevent the escape of radiation
7. See Canadian Shield, Baltic Shield
   a broad stable plateau of ancient Precambrian rocks forming the rigid nucleus of a particular continent See Baltic Shield Canadian Shield
8. See dress shield
   short for dress shield
9. civil engineering a hollow steel cylinder that protects men driving a circular tunnel through loose, soft, or water-bearing ground
10. the shield informal.
    the shield
    1. short for the Sheffield Shield
    2. short for the Ranfurly Shield

verb

1. tr to protect, hide, or conceal (something) from danger or harm

shield

/ shēld /

1. A wall or housing of an absorbing material, such as concrete or lead, built around a nuclear reactor to prevent the escape of radiation.
2. A structure or arrangement of metal plates or mesh designed to protect a piece of electronic equipment from electrostatic or magnetic interference.
3. A large geographic area where rocks of a continent's craton (the ancient, relatively undisturbed portion of a continental plate) are visible at the surface. A shield is often surrounded by platforms covered with sediment.

Derived Forms

• ˈshieldˌlike, adjective
• ˈshielder, noun

Other Words From

• shielder noun
• shieldless adjective
• shieldless·ly adverb
• shieldless·ness noun
• shieldlike adjective
• under·shield noun
• un·shielded adjective
• un·shielding adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shield¹

First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English shelde, Old English sceld; cognate with Dutch, German Schild, Gothic skildus; (verb) Middle English shelden, Old English sceldan, scildan, derivative of the noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of shield¹

Old English scield; related to Old Norse skjöldr, Gothic skildus, Old High German scilt shield, Old English sciell shell

Example Sentences

Because ozone is both a chemical by-product of oxygen produced in photosynthesis and a shield that protects life from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, astronomers think atmospheric ozone could be a key indicator that a distant world is habitable.

From Science News

Louis’s sudden education began just as governments across the world started treating the looming shortage of masks and face shields as a matter of national security.

From MIT Technology Review

Hundreds of thousands of masks, gloves, face shields and hand sanitizer bottles will be on hand to protect them.

From Voice of San Diego

Little things such as adding complimentary masks, face shields, gloves, and hand sanitizers to Independence Day deals will show consumers that you care about them.

From Search Engine Watch

Her current company, Therma-Tron-X, had already started to make face shields for a local hospital.

From Science News For Students

He remains busy trying to penetrate the shield with something much smarter.

From The Daily Beast

Liu was also well aware of the risks that came with the shield.

From The Daily Beast

The daily message of that outsized shield to Ramos was that just wearing the NYPD inform can make you a target.

From The Daily Beast

He tended to shield himself from disappointment by expecting the worst—of people and of his country.

From The Daily Beast

UPDATE: "My firm has done nothing to shield anyone or any entity from any sanctions," Goldin told The Daily Beast in an email.

From The Daily Beast

There is a companion who condoleth with his friend for his belly's sake, and he will take up a shield against the enemy.

From Project Gutenberg

The sailors had hoped they would be able to shield the Southern point of the Peninsula by interposing their ships but they can't.

From Project Gutenberg

I should judge from what I see and feel that shade is seldom wanting here, except as a shield from the rain.

From Project Gutenberg

Prepare the table, behold in the watchtower them that eat and drink: arise, ye princes, take up the shield.

From Project Gutenberg

And Elam took the quiver, the chariot of the horseman, and the shield was taken down from the wall.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• armor
• buffer
• bulwark
• safeguard
• shelter