shield

[ sheeld ]

/ ʃild /

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.

Nearby words

shicker, shickered, shidduch, shied, shiel, shield, shield back, shield bearer, shield bug, shield cricket, shield fern

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 forms

shield·er, nounshield·less, adjectiveshield·less·ly, adverbshield·less·ness, noun

shield·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

Examples from the Web for shields

The cap devices on thousands of identical hats glinted in the late morning sun along with the shields worn by each of the cops.
Choking Back Tears, Thousands of Cops Honor Fallen Officer Ramos|Michael Daly|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Riot police eventually converged from the flanks, hundreds at first, then hundreds more, with shields and batons.
Mexican Protesters Look to Start a New Revolution|Jason McGahan|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Like any good suspense novelist, Shields is a master of evasion and sleight-of-hand.
Carol Shields’s Tale Of Secondhand Life|Nathaniel Rich|October 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By 15, Shields was saying: “Nothing comes between me and my Calvins” in an advert for Calvin Klein underwear.
In Defense of American Apparel: Why a Hitched-Up Skirt Barely Conceals a Profound Social Confusion|Tim Teeman|August 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Shields was photographed nude when she was 10, the photograph later used in an artwork by Richard Prince.
In Defense of American Apparel: Why a Hitched-Up Skirt Barely Conceals a Profound Social Confusion|Tim Teeman|August 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The shields varied in form and material from tribe to tribe.
Homer and His Age|Andrew Lang
You will now, on opening them, have two shields, as in Fig. 2.
Harper's Young People, October 26, 1880|Various
Come now, let us change our shields, and put upon us the armor of these Greeks.
Stories of the Old world|Alfred John Church
Their corslets and shields are said to have been made of elk's skin.
The History of Antiquity, Vol. III (of VI)|Max Duncker
You will find weapons, cords, nets, shields and various first aids to the young dragon-catcher in the vaults below this tower.
The Magic City|Edith Nesbit

British Dictionary definitions for shields (1 of 2)

Shields

/ (ʃiːldz) /

noun

Carol (Ann). 1935–2003, Canadian novelist and writer, born in the US; her novels include Happenstance (1980), The Stone Diaries (1995), and Unless (2002)

British Dictionary definitions for shields (2 of 2)

shield

/ (ʃiːld) /

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 shields (1 of 2)

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).

Word Origin and History for shields (1 of 2)

shield

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

Medicine definitions for shields

shield

[ shēld ]

n.

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

Science definitions for shields

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.

shield

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Origin of shield

Examples from the Web for shields

British Dictionary definitions for shields (1 of 2)

Shields

noun

British Dictionary definitions for shields (2 of 2)

shield

noun

verb

Word Origin for shield

Word Origin and History for shields (1 of 2)

shield

Word Origin and History for shields (1 of 2)

shield

Medicine definitions for shields

shield

n.

Science definitions for shields

shield