What does shield mean?

Definitions for shield
ʃildshield

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word shield.

Princeton's WordNet

  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"

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Shieldnoun

    Etymology: scyld , Saxon.

    Now put your shields before your hearts, and fight
    With hearts more proof than shields. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

    The terror of the Trojan field,
    The Grecian honour, ornament, and shield,
    High on a pile th’ unconquer’d chief is plac’d. Dryden.

  2. To Shieldverb

    Etymology: from the noun.

    Were’t my fitness to let these hands obey my boiling blood,
    They’re apt enough to dislocate and tear
    Thy flesh and bones: howe’er
    A woman’s shape doth shield thee. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

    Shouts of applause ran ringing through the field,
    To see the son the vanquish’d father shield. Dryden.

    Hear one that comes to shield his injur’d honour,
    And guard his life with hazard of her own. Smith.

    Out of their cold caves and frozen habitations, into the sweet soil of Europe, they brought with them their usual weeds, fit to shield the cold, to which they had been inured. Edmund Spenser.

    My lord, I must intreat the time alone.
    —— God shield I should disturb devotion. William Shakespeare.

Wikipedia

  1. Shield

    A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of active blocks, as well as to provide passive protection by closing one or more lines of engagement during combat. Shields vary greatly in size and shape, ranging from large panels that protect the user's whole body to small models (such as the buckler) 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 (like the roromaraugi or qauata). Finally, shields vary greatly in shape, ranging in roundness to angularity, proportional length and width, symmetry and edge pattern; different shapes provide more optimal protection for infantry or cavalry, enhance portability, provide secondary uses such as ship protection or as a weapon and so on. In prehistory and during the era of the earliest civilisations, shields were made of wood, animal hide, woven reeds or wicker. In classical antiquity, the Barbarian Invasions and the Middle Ages, they were normally constructed of poplar tree, 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. Depending on time and place, shields could be round, oval, square, rectangular, triangular, bilabial or scalloped. Sometimes they took on the form of kites or flatirons, or had rounded tops on a rectangular base with perhaps an eye-hole, to look through when used with combat. The shield was held by a central grip or by straps with some going over or around the user's arm and one or more being held by the hand. Often shields were decorated with a painted pattern or an animal representation to show their army or clan. These designs developed into systematized heraldic devices during the High Middle Ages for purposes of battlefield identification. Even after the introduction of gunpowder and firearms to the battlefield, shields continued to be used by certain groups. In the 18th century, for example, Scottish Highland fighters liked to wield small shields known as targes, and as late as the 19th century, some non-industrialized peoples (such as Zulu warriors) employed them when waging war. In the 20th and 21st century, shields have been used by military and police units that specialize in anti-terrorist actions, hostage rescue, riot control and siege-breaking.

ChatGPT

  1. shield

    A shield is a piece of personal armor or protective gear, typically made of a hard material, designed to deflect or absorb impacts, particularly in combat situations. It can be handheld or attached to another object, such as a vehicle or building. It is also used metaphorically to refer to anything that provides protection, security or immunity.

Webster Dictionary

  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

  2. Shieldnoun

    anything which protects or defends; defense; shelter; protection

  3. Shieldnoun

    figuratively, one who protects or defends

  4. Shieldnoun

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

  5. Shieldnoun

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

  6. Shieldnoun

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

  7. Shieldnoun

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

  8. Shieldnoun

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

  9. Shieldnoun

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

  10. Shieldnoun

    to ward off; to keep off or out

  11. Shieldnoun

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

  12. 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.]

Wikidata

  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

  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.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. SHIELD

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Shield is ranked #21583 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Shield surname appeared 1,209 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Shield.

    73.2% or 885 total occurrences were White.
    17.2% or 208 total occurrences were Black.
    3.3% or 40 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
    3% or 37 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    2.2% or 27 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    0.9% or 12 total occurrences were Asian.

British National Corpus

  1. Nouns Frequency

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

How to pronounce shield?

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. Kate Andersen Brower:

    Pat Nixon was completely in the bunker during Watergate, which dragged on for two years. She stopped reading the newspapers at the height of the barrage and blamed others, in this case Republicans, for trying to bring her husband down, at one point the West Wing staff cut off her newspapers in an effort to shield her from the headlines. But she knew exactly what was going on and she defended her husband until the end.

  2. Scott Pinsker:

    Obviously, not everyone who shops at Urban Outfitters is a committed leftist. Simply by offering a few pro-Trump items, even if they’re outnumbered by anti-Trump items ten-to-one, would shield Urban Outfitters from criticism and potential boycotts, political campaigns come and go, but alienating large portions of the public can haunt you for decades.

  3. Marc Cohen:

    It’s a severe middle-class problem, middle-class people typically spend down their income and assets to reach Medicaid eligibility levels, or try to find a way to hang on to their assets - but there just isn’t much wealth to shield. So any bill that limits that deductibility is squarely nailing the middle class.

  4. Charles de Montesquieu:

    There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.

  5. Donald Trump:

    Together you are the tip of the spear, the edge of the blade and the front of the shield defending and protecting our great country, you know there is no mission our pilots can't handle. There is no hill our marines can't take and there is no stronghold the SEALs can't breach. There is no sea the Navy can't brave and there is no storm the American sailor can't conquer. You know that together there is nothing Americans can't do. Absolutely nothing.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

shield#1#6486#10000

Translations for shield

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"shield." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/shield>.

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    a medicinal liquid that is rubbed into the skin to relieve muscular stiffness and pain
    A confrere
    B substrate
    C sapling
    D liniment

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