n.
- A broad piece of armor made of rigid material and strapped to the arm or carried in the hand for protection against hurled or thrusted weapons.
- A person or thing that provides protection.
- A protective device or structure, as:
- A steel sheet attached to an artillery piece to protect gunners from small-arms fire and shrapnel.
- Physics. A wall or housing of concrete or lead built around a nuclear reactor to prevent the escape of radiation.
- Electronics. A structure or arrangement of metal plates or mesh designed to protect a piece of electronic equipment from electrostatic or magnetic interference.
- A pad worn, as at the armpits, to protect a garment from perspiration.
- A sanitary napkin.
- Zoology. A protective plate or similar hard outer covering; a scute or scutellum.
- Something that resembles a shield, as:
- An escutcheon.
- A decorative emblem that often serves to identify an organization or a government.
- A police officer's badge.
- Geology. The ancient, stable, interior layer of continents composed of primarily Precambrian igneous or metamorphic rocks. Also called continental shield.
v., shield·ed, shield·ing, shields. v.tr.
- To protect or defend with or as if with a shield; guard. See synonyms at defend.
- To cover up; conceal.
To act or serve as a shield or safeguard.
[Middle English sheld, from Old English scield.]
shielder shield'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
