shield

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: bucklercarapaceshellcuticlescreenharborharbour

WordNet 3.0

Noun (3)

  1. a protective covering or structure
  2. armor carried on the arm to intercept blowsSynonyms: buckler
  3. hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtlesSynonyms: carapaceshellcuticle

Verb (2)

  1. protect, hide, or conceal from danger or harmSynonyms: screen
  2. hold back a thought or feeling about“She is harboring a grudge against him”Synonyms: harborharbour
Advertisement

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Shield \Shield\, n. [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skj["o]ldr, Sw. sk["o]ld, 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. [1913 Webster]

Now put your shields before your hearts and fight, With hearts more proof than shields.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

2.Anything which protects or defends; defense; shelter; protection. "My council is my shield." --Shak. [1913 Webster]

3.Figuratively, one who protects or defends. [1913 Webster]

Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.— Gen. xv. 1.[1913 Webster]

4.(Bot.) In lichens, a Hardened cup or disk surrounded by a rim and containing the fructification, or asci. [1913 Webster]

5.(Her.) The escutcheon or field on which are placed the bearings in coats of arms. Cf. Lozenge. See Illust. of Escutcheon. [1913 Webster]

6.(Mining & Tunneling) A framework used to protect workmen in making an adit under ground, and capable of being pushed along as excavation progresses. [1913 Webster]

7.A spot resembling, or having the form of, a shield. "Bespotted as with shields of red and black." --Spenser. [1913 Webster]

8.A coin, the old French crown, or ['e]cu, having on one side the figure of a shield. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

Shield \Shield\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shielded; p. pr. & vb. n. Shielding.] [AS. scidan, scyldan. See Shield, n.]

1.To cover with, or as with, a shield; to cover from danger; to defend; to protect from assault or injury. [1913 Webster]

Shouts of applause ran ringing through the field, To see the son the vanquished father shield.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]
A woman's shape doth shield thee.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

2.To ward off; to keep off or out. [1913 Webster]

They brought with them their usual weeds, fit to shield the cold to which they had been inured.— Spenser.[1913 Webster]

3.To avert, as a misfortune; hence, as a supplicatory exclamation, forbid! [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

God shield that it should so befall.— Chaucer.[1913 Webster]
God shield I should disturb devotion!— Shak.[1913 Webster]
Advertisement