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human shield

American  

noun

  1. a person or group of people located or intentionally placed in a potential line of fire or in an area likely to be attacked.

Etymology

Origin of human shield

First recorded in 1880–85

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.

He's a guy who earned a highly paid job by failing upward, knowing that his ultimate purpose is to be a human shield.

From Salon • May 29, 2023

“If successful,” Nebenzya said, Russian troops and the inspectors “would have become the human shield of the saboteurs.”

From Washington Post • Sep. 6, 2022

A mammoth crowd turned up and served as a human shield for the defectors.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 24, 2022

Emily is trying to use you as a human shield to hide from her 30th birthday, and you know what?

From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2022

Kyle, Akimi, and Sierra formed a human shield to hide their Bibliomania box.

From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein

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.