# shield

Pronunciation: say "SHEELD" /ʃiːld/

## Noun

1. A broad piece of defensive armor held in the hand to protect the body, formerly in general use in war.
   - Simple: A wide piece of armor held in one hand to protect the body, used in wars in the past.
   - _The knight crouched behind his shield as arrows rained down from the walls._
   - _The soldiers locked their shields together and pushed against the enemy line._
3. Anything that protects or defends, or the protection and shelter it provides.
   - Simple: Something that keeps a person or thing safe from harm or danger.
   - _A row of pines along the north edge of the farm serves as a shield against winter storms._
   - _Many investors buy gold as a shield against inflation._
4. In science fiction, a field of energy that protects or defends something, such as a ship or a person.
   - Simple: In science fiction, a layer of energy that protects a spaceship or a person from harm.
   - _Our shields are down to half power, and another hit could breach the hull._
   - _The soldier's suit generated a personal shield that deflected the first volley of rounds._
6. In heraldry, the escutcheon: the surface of a coat of arms on which its bearings are placed.
   - Simple: In a coat of arms, the main shape that the pictures and symbols are placed on.
   - _The first quarter of the shield carries a red lion for the father's line._
   - _Weather had worn the carving so smooth that the charges on the shield could barely be made out._
10. A badge carried or worn by a police officer as identification. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The badge that shows someone is a police officer.
   - _She flashed her shield at the doorman and walked straight into the building._
   - _After twenty years on patrol, he finally earned his detective's shield._
8. A spot or marking that resembles a shield or has its shape.
   - Simple: A mark or spot shaped like a shield.
   - _A pale shield on the bird's throat sets the male apart from the female._
   - _The beetle's black wing cases are marked with small red shields._
11. A wide volcano with a relatively low profile, usually built entirely of lava flows.
   - Simple: A wide, fairly low volcano that is usually made only of lava that flowed out and cooled.
   - _The island is built from two overlapping shields whose lava flows have merged._
   - _Unlike steep cone-shaped volcanoes, a shield spreads out wide because its runny lava flows far before cooling._
9. A large area of stable Precambrian rock exposed at the earth's surface.
   - Simple: A huge area of very old, stable rock that lies bare at the earth's surface.
   - _The Canadian Shield, scraped bare by ice sheets, is dotted with thousands of lakes._
   - _Geologists study the shield to learn how the earliest continents formed._
12. A sign or symbol identifying a highway route, usually bearing the route's number and sometimes letters.
   - Simple: A sign or symbol that shows a highway's number, and sometimes letters, so you know which road it is.
   - _A faded Interstate shield marked the on-ramp, though the number was barely legible._
   - _Road atlases print a route shield at every junction so drivers can match the map to the signs._

## Verb

2. To protect or defend someone or something, keeping harm away.
   - Simple: To keep someone or something safe from harm.
   - _The bodyguard stepped forward to shield the senator from the crowd._
   - _A thick layer of mulch shields against frost during the coldest weeks._
5. In electricity, to protect a wire, circuit, or device from the influence of outside electric or magnetic fields.
   - Simple: To protect a wire or machine so that nearby electricity or magnets do not affect it.
   - _Designers shield the sensor's wiring from the motor's electrical interference._
   - _The audio cable is shielded with a layer of braided copper that keeps out stray noise._
7. To take shelter, or to protect oneself from something harmful. *(UK)*
   - Simple: To keep yourself safe by staying under cover or away from danger.
   - _Patients with weakened immune systems were advised to shield at home during the winter._
   - _My mum has been shielding for months, so the family does her shopping and leaves it on the doorstep._

## Noun

13. A coin, the old French crown or écu, bearing the figure of a shield on one side. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old French coin, also called a crown or écu, with a picture of a shield on one side.
14. (obsolete, Scotland) A polite, indirect word for a toilet seat, or for a privy or lavatory. *(obsolete, Scotland)*
   - Simple: An old Scottish polite word for a toilet seat or for a toilet.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Parts at the front and back of a vehicle designed to absorb the impact of a collision.
- (noun) A framework that protects workers while they dig a passage underground, and that can be pushed forward as the digging advances.
- (noun) In a lichen, a hardened cup or disk ringed by a rim that contains the fruiting structures, or asci.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 3–4, 6, 8–14** — Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ("cut, split") led to Proto-Germanic *skelduz ("shield") and Proto-West Germanic *skeldu, the source of Old English scield ("shield"), which became Middle English scheld or shelde. Words for "shield" in related languages include West Frisian skyld, Dutch schild, German Schild, Danish skjold, Icelandic skjöldur and Faroese skjøldur. Latin scūtum, Irish sciath, Latgalian škīda, Lithuanian skydas and Russian щит (ščit), which also mean "shield," are comparable and have been traced to Proto-Indo-European *skey- ("to cut, split"), though Latin scūtum is sometimes derived instead from *(s)kewH- ("to cover, protect").
**Meanings 2, 5, 7** — From Middle English shelden, from Old English scildan.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/shield (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).