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Webster 1913 Edition

Shield

Shield

,
Noun.
[OE.
sheld
,
scheld
, AS.
scield
,
scild
,
sceld
,
scyld
; akin to OS.
scild
, OFries.
skeld
, D. & G.
schild
, OHG.
scilt
, Icel.
skjöldr
, Sw.
sköld
, Dan.
skiold
, Goth.
skildus
; of uncertain origin. Cf.
Sheldrake
.]
1.
A broad piece of defensive armor, carried on the arm, – formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body. See
Buckler
.
Now put your
shields
before your hearts and fight,
With hearts more proof than
shields
.
Shakespeare
2.
Anything which protects or defends; defense; shelter; protection.
“My council is my shield.”
Shak.
3.
Figuratively, one who protects or defends.
Fear not, Abram; I am thy
shield
, and thy exceeding great reward.
Gen. xv. 1.
4.
(Bot.)
In lichens, a Hardened cup or disk surrounded by a rim and containing the fructification, or asci.
5.
(Her.)
The escutcheon or field on which are placed the bearings in coats of arms. Cf.
Lozenge
. See Illust. of
Escutcheon
.
6.
(Mining & Tunneling)
A framework used to protect workmen in making an adit under ground, and capable of being pushed along as excavation progresses.
7.
A spot resembling, or having the form of, a shield.
“Bespotted as with shields of red and black.”
Spenser.
8.
A coin, the old French crown, or écu, having on one side the figure of a shield.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
Shield fern
(Bot.)
,
any fern of the genus
Aspidium
, in which the fructifications are covered with shield-shaped indusia; – called also
wood fern
. See Illust. of
Indusium
.

Shield

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Shielded
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Shielding
.]
[AS.
scidan
,
scyldan
.
See
Shield
,
Noun.
]
1.
To cover with, or as with, a shield; to cover from danger; to defend; to protect from assault or injury.
Shouts of applause ran ringing through the field,
To see the son the vanquished father
shield
.
Dryden.
A woman’s shape doth
shield
thee.
Shakespeare
2.
To ward off; to keep off or out.
They brought with them their usual weeds, fit to
shield
the cold to which they had been inured.
Spenser.
3.
To avert, as a misfortune; hence, as a supplicatory exclamation, forbid!
[Obs.]
God
shield
that it should so befall.
Chaucer.
God
shield
I should disturb devotion!
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Shield

SHIELD

,
Verb.
T.
1. To cover, as with a shield; to cover from dasnger; to defend; to protect; to secure form assault or injury.
To see the son the vanquish'd father shield. Dryden.
Hear one that comes to shield his injur'd honor. Smith.

Definition 2024

shield

shield

English

Noun

shield ‎(plural shields)

  1. Anything that protects or defends; defense; shelter; protection.
    1. A broad piece of defensive armor, carried on the arm, formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body.
      • 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act 4, Scene 3, line 56:
        Go muster men. My counsel is my shield; We must be brief when traitors brave the field.
      • 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act III, Scene II, line 8:
        Knock go and come; God's vassals drop and die; And sword and shield, In bloody field, Doth win immortal fame.
      • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 22:
        The shields used by our Norman ancestors were the triangular or heater shield, the target or buckler, the roundel or rondache, and the pavais, pavache, or tallevas.
      • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:
        My client welcomed the judge […] and they disappeared together into the Ethiopian card-room, which was filled with the assegais and exclamation point shields Mr. Cooke had had made at the sawmill at Beaverton.
    2. (figuratively) One who protects or defends.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version edition, Genesis 15:1:
        Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
    3. (lichenology) In lichens, a hardened cup or disk surrounded by a rim and containing the fructification, or asci.
    4. (mining) A framework used to protect workmen in making an adit under ground, and capable of being pushed along as excavation progresses.
    5. (science fiction) A field of energy that protects or defends.
  2. Something shaped like a shield, usually an inverted triangle with slightly curved lower sides.
    1. (heraldry) The escutcheon or field on which are placed the bearings in coats of arms.
    2. (Scotland, euphemistic, obsolete) A toilet seat.
    3. A spot resembling, or having the form of a shield.
    4. (obsolete) A coin, the old French crown, or écu, having on one side the figure of a shield.
    5. (transport) A sign or symbol, usually containing numbers and sometimes letters, identifying a highway route.
    6. (colloquial, law enforcement) A police badge.
  3. (geology) A large expanse of exposed stable Precambrian rock.
    1. (geology) A wide and relatively low-profiled volcano, usually composed entirely of lava flows.
  4. (figuratively, Scotland, euphemistic, obsolete) A place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.
Synonyms
  • (place with a toilet seat): See Wikisaurus:bathroom
Hyponyms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Old English scieldan.

Verb

shield ‎(third-person singular simple present shields, present participle shielding, simple past and past participle shielded)

  1. To protect, to defend.
    • 2004, Chris Wallace, “Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage”, in (Please provide the title of the work):
      Shots rang out and a 15-year-old boy, shielding a woman from the line of fire, was killed.
  2. (electricity) to protect from the influence of
Translations

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English shelde, from Old English scield ‎(“shield”), from Proto-Germanic *skelduz ‎(“shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keit-, *(s)keid-, *kheit- ‎(“shield, cover”). Cognate with West Frisian skyld, Dutch schild ‎(“shield”), German Schild ‎(“shield”), Danish skjold ‎(“shield”), Icelandic skjöldur ‎(“shield”), Latin scūtum ‎(“shield”), Irish sciath ‎(“shield”), Latgalian škīda ‎(“shield”), Lithuanian skydas ‎(“shield”), Russian щит ‎(ščit, “shield”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃiːld/
  • Rhymes: -iːld

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