shard
Americannoun
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a fragment, especially of broken earthenware.
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Zoology.
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a scale.
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a shell, as of an egg or snail.
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Entomology. an elytron of a beetle.
noun
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a broken piece or fragment of a brittle substance, esp of pottery
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zoology a tough sheath, scale, or shell, esp the elytra of a beetle
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of shard
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English sceard; cognate with Low German, Dutch schaard; akin to shear
Explanation
If you break a mirror, the thin sharp pieces you want to avoid are shards. A shard is simply a broken piece of metal, glass, stone, or pottery with sharp edges. Don't confuse shard with shred, meaning to cut into strips, or chard, a leafy green vegetable. You could use a shard of metal to shred chard into salad, but be careful that you don't cut your hands to shreds!
Vocabulary lists containing shard
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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.
Historically, suburbs such as Hodge Hill, Shard End and Castle Bromwich were built around a strong manufacturing base, but the long-term decline of factories and foundries has reshaped the local economy.
From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026
Established in 2005, it owns the Empire State Building and London's Shard, the Canary Wharf district and high-end department store Harrods.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
The Shard has had a festive makeover, with the London skyscraper fitted with 575 LED panels for a Christmas lights show.
From BBC • Nov. 30, 2023
British media reported he was arrested and jailed for climbing the Shard building in London in 2019.
From Reuters • Jun. 12, 2023
“A piece of myself lives in you, Kwame. Technically, you could call me a manifestation of the Shard that lives in you. An echo of who I was.”
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
