shield

[sheeld]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR shield ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

a similar device, often of lightweight plastic, used by riot police to protect themselves from rocks and other thrown objects.

something shaped like a shield, variously round, octagonal, triangular, or somewhat heart-shaped.

a person or thing that protects.

a police officer's, detective's, or sheriff's badge.

Ordnance. a steel screen attached to a gun to protect its crew, mechanism, etc.

Mining. a movable framework for protecting a miner from cave-ins, etc.

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.

Zoology. a protective plate or the like on the body of an animal, as a scute, enlarged scale, etc.

dress shield.

Heraldry. an escutcheon, especially one broad at the top and pointed at the bottom, for displaying armorial bearings.

(initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Scutum.

Also called continental shield. Geology. a vast area of ancient crustal rocks which, together with a platform, constitutes a craton.

a protective barrier against nuclear radiation, especially a lead or concrete structure around a reactor.

verb (used with object)

to protect (someone or something) with or as if with a shield.

to serve as a protection for.

to hide or conceal; protect by hiding.

Obsolete. to avert; forbid.

verb (used without object)

to act or serve as a shield.

Origin of shield

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

Related formsshield·er, nounshield·less, adjectiveshield·less·ly, adverbshield·less·ness, nounshield·like, adjectiveun·der·shield, nounun·shield·ed, adjectiveun·shield·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for shield

armor, buffer, safeguard, shelter, bulwark, defend, cover, conceal, screen, armament, guard, defense, aegis, escutcheon, rampart, mail, ward, security, absorber, bumper

Examples from the Web for shield

Contemporary Examples of shield

He remains busy trying to penetrate the shield with something much smarter.
A Gift to the Jihadis: The Unseen Airport Security Threat
Clive Irving
December 27, 2014
Liu was also well aware of the risks that came with the shield.
In The Shadow of Murdered Cops
Michael Daly
December 26, 2014
He tended to shield himself from disappointment by expecting the worst—of people and of his country.
How Richard Pryor Beat Bill Cosby and Transformed America
David Yaffe, Scott Saul
December 10, 2014
UPDATE: "My firm has done nothing to shield anyone or any entity from any sanctions," Goldin told The Daily Beast in an email.
Exclusive: Did This Manhattan Firm Help Shield a Russian Fund From Sanctions?
Bill Conroy
November 10, 2014
In the winter, they can shield drivers from the annoyance of having to wipe snow and ice off their windshields.
Paved Paradise
The Daily Beast
September 24, 2014

Historical Examples of shield

Could he be asked to shield and protect her, or what would become of her?
Malbone
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
They shield him, too; nobody who wants to reach their hearts must blame him.
Ester Ried Yet Speaking
Isabella Alden
I believe it is often the best wisdom to be blind and let God be our eyes as well as our shield.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
Still there was that in them which respected the mother's grief; they tried to shield her.
Ester Ried Yet Speaking
Isabella Alden
You acted like a hero in trying to shield Alan Porter, and I like men of that stamp.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser

British Dictionary definitions for shield

shield

noun

any protection used to intercept blows, missiles, etc, such as a tough piece of armour carried on the arm

any similar protective device

Also called: scutcheon, escutcheon heraldry a pointed stylized shield used for displaying armorial bearings

anything that resembles a shield in shape, such as a prize in a sports competition

the protective outer covering of an animal, such as the shell of a turtle

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

a broad stable plateau of ancient Precambrian rocks forming the rigid nucleus of a particular continentSee Baltic Shield, Canadian Shield

short for dress shield

civil engineering a hollow steel cylinder that protects men driving a circular tunnel through loose, soft, or water-bearing ground

the shield informal

Australian short for the Sheffield Shield
NZ short for the Ranfurly Shield

verb

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

Derived Formsshielder, nounshieldlike, adjective

Word Origin for shield

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for shield

Old English scield, scild "shield; protector, defense," literally "board," from Proto-Germanic *skelduz (cf. Old Norse skjöldr, Old Saxon skild, Middle Dutch scilt, Dutch schild, German Schild, Gothic skildus), from *skel- "divide, split, separate," from PIE root *(s)kel- (1) "to cut" (see scale (n.1)). Perhaps the notion is of a flat piece of wood made by splitting a log. Shield volcano (1911) translates German Schildvulkan (1910). Plate tectonics sense is from 1906, translating Suess (1888).

Old English gescildan, from the root of shield (n.). Related: Shielded; shielding. Cf. German scilden.

shield in Medicine

shield

[shēld]

n.

A protective device or structure, such as a lead sheet to protect an individual from x-rays.

shield in Science

shield

[shēld]

A wall or housing of an absorbing material, such as concrete or lead, built around a nuclear reactor to prevent the escape of radiation.

A structure or arrangement of metal plates or mesh designed to protect a piece of electronic equipment from electrostatic or magnetic interference.

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.