Definitions for shield
ʃildshield

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. shieldnoun

   a protective covering or structure

2. shield, bucklernoun

   armor carried on the arm to intercept blows

3. carapace, shell, cuticle, shieldverb

   hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles

4. shield, screenverb

   protect, hide, or conceal from danger or harm

5. harbor, harbour, shieldverb

   hold back a thought or feeling about

   "She is harboring a grudge against him"

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Shieldnoun

   a broad piece of defensive armor, carried on the arm, -- formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body. See Buckler

   Etymology: [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjldr, Sw. skld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake.]

2. Shieldnoun

   anything which protects or defends; defense; shelter; protection

   Etymology: [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjldr, Sw. skld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake.]

3. Shieldnoun

   figuratively, one who protects or defends

   Etymology: [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjldr, Sw. skld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake.]

4. Shieldnoun

   in lichens, a Hardened cup or disk surrounded by a rim and containing the fructification, or asci

   Etymology: [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjldr, Sw. skld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake.]

5. Shieldnoun

   the escutcheon or field on which are placed the bearings in coats of arms. Cf. Lozenge. See Illust. of Escutcheon

   Etymology: [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjldr, Sw. skld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake.]

6. Shieldnoun

   a framework used to protect workmen in making an adit under ground, and capable of being pushed along as excavation progresses

   Etymology: [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjldr, Sw. skld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake.]

7. Shieldnoun

   a spot resembling, or having the form of, a shield

   Etymology: [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjldr, Sw. skld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake.]

8. Shieldnoun

   a coin, the old French crown, or ecu, having on one side the figure of a shield

   Etymology: [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjldr, Sw. skld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake.]

9. Shieldnoun

   to cover with, or as with, a shield; to cover from danger; to defend; to protect from assault or injury

   Etymology: [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjldr, Sw. skld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake.]

10. Shieldnoun

    to ward off; to keep off or out

    Etymology: [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjldr, Sw. skld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake.]

11. Shieldnoun

    to avert, as a misfortune; hence, as a supplicatory exclamation, forbid!

    Etymology: [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjldr, Sw. skld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake.]

Freebase(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Shield

   A shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace, battle axe or similar weapon to the side of the shield-bearer. Shields vary greatly in size, ranging from large panels that protect the user's entire body to small models that were intended for hand-to-hand-combat use. Shields also vary a great deal in thickness; whereas some shields were made of relatively deep, absorbent, wooden planking to protect soldiers from the impact of spears and crossbow bolts, others were thinner and lighter and designed mainly for deflecting blade strikes. In prehistory and during the era of the earliest civilizations, shields were made of wood, animal hide, woven reeds or wicker. In classical antiquity, the Migration Period and the Middle Ages, they were normally constructed of poplar, lime or another split-resistant timber, covered in some instances with a material such as leather or rawhide and often reinforced with a metal boss, rim or banding. They were carried by foot soldiers, knights and cavalry. Shape wise, depending on time and place, shields could be round, oval, square, rectangular, triangular or scalloped. Sometimes they took on the form of kites, flatirons or figures-of-eight, or had rounded tops on a rectangular base with perhaps an eyehole inserted. The shield was held by a central grip or by straps which went over or around the user's arm

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. shield

   A piece of defensive armor, borne on the left arm, to ward off the strokes of the sword and of missiles. It has been constantly used from ancient times, through the Middle Ages, till the invention of fire-arms. The large shield worn by the Greeks and Romans (clipeus) was circular, and often ornamented with devices. Another form of shield (scutum) was used by the Roman heavy-armed infantry, square, but bent to encircle the body. The early shield or knightly escutcheon of the Middle Ages was circular in outline, and convex, with a boss in the centre; the body generally of wood, and the rim of metal. There were many other kinds of shields, made of leather, wood, basket-work, etc., employed up to the introduction of fire-arms, when they became practically useless, although some savage nations employ shields at the present time.

2. shield

   To cover, as with a shield; to cover from danger; to defend; to protect; to secure from assault or injury.

Matched Categories

1. • Hide
   • Protect
   • Protective Covering

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'shield' in Nouns Frequency: #2206

Anagrams for shield »

1. Delish

How to pronounce shield?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say shield in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of shield in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of shield in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of shield in a Sentence

1. Stephanie Baldwin:

   As soon as the gunfire started, everyone dropped to the floor and they were underneath desks, and she was trying to shield herself with a chair, along with a man next to her, then, all of a sudden, she said she just felt (the bullet) going through her back.

2. Darrell Steinberg:

   All too often, anti-Israel feelings serve as a shield for anti-Semitism.

3. Sipho P Nkosi:

   Shield your heart from being stabbed, by giving it to no one.

4. James Scott:

   The Cyber Shield Act could serve as a secure conduit to facilitate update and patch delivery James Scott, Senior Fellow, Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology

5. Zoe Lofgren:

   You also found that department shields were stationed on a deployment bus, away from one of the CDU platoons, and that CDU platoon attempted to get to the bus to distribute the shields, but they couldn't do it because the door was locked and as a result this particular CDU platoon was required to respond to the crowd without the protection of their riot shield.

Images & Illustrations of shield

Popularity rank by frequency of use