
a similar device, often of lightweight plastic, used by riot police to protect themselves from rocks and other thrown objects.
something shaped like a shield, variously round, octagonal, triangular, or somewhat heart-shaped.
a person or thing that protects.
a police officer's, detective's, or sheriff's badge.
Ordnance. a steel screen attached to a gun to protect its crew, mechanism, etc.
Mining. a movable framework for protecting a miner from cave-ins, etc.
Electricity. a covering, usually made of metal, placed around an electric device or circuit in order to reduce the effects of external electric and magnetic fields.
Zoology. a protective plate or the like on the body of an animal, as a scute, enlarged scale, etc.
Heraldry. an escutcheon, especially one broad at the top and pointed at the bottom, for displaying armorial bearings.
(initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Scutum.
Also called continental shield. Geology. a vast area of ancient crustal rocks which, together with a platform, constitutes a craton.
a protective barrier against nuclear radiation, especially a lead or concrete structure around a reactor.
verb (used with object)
to serve as a protection for.
to hide or conceal; protect by hiding.
Obsolete. to avert; forbid.
verb (used without object)
to act or serve as a shield.

before 900; (noun) Middle English shelde, Old English sceld; cognate with Dutch, German Schild, Gothic skildus; (v.) Middle English shelden, Old English sceldan, scildan, derivative of the noun

shielder, noun
shieldless, adjective
shieldlessly, adverb
shieldlessness, noun
shieldlike, adjective
undershield, noun
unshielded, adjective
unshielding, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
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World English Dictionary
shield (ʃiːld)
1.  any protection used to intercept blows, missiles, etc, such as a tough piece of armour carried on the arm
2.  any similar protective device
3.  heraldry scutcheon, Also called: escutcheon a pointed stylized shield used for displaying armorial bearings
4.  anything that resembles a shield in shape, such as a prize in a sports competition
5.  the protective outer covering of an animal, such as the shell of a turtle
6.  physics a structure of concrete, lead, etc, placed around a nuclear reactor or other source of radiation in order to prevent the escape of radiation
7.  Baltic Shield See Canadian Shield a broad stable plateau of ancient Precambrian rocks forming the rigid nucleus of a particular continent
8.  short for dress shield
9.  civil engineering a hollow steel cylinder that protects men driving a circular tunnel through loose, soft, or water-bearing ground
10.  informal the shield
 a.  (Austral) short for the Sheffield Shield
 b.  (NZ) short for the Ranfurly Shield a trophy competed for by provincial rugby teams
11.  (tr) to protect, hide, or conceal (something) from danger or harm
[Old English scield; related to Old Norse skjöldr, Gothic skildus, Old High German scilt shield, Old English sciellshell]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History

O.E. scield, scild, related to sciell (see shell), from P.Gmc. *skeldus (cf. O.N. skjöldr, O.S. skild, M.Du. scilt, Du. schild, Ger. Schild, Goth. skildus), from base *skel- "divide, split, separate," from PIE base *(s)kel- "to cut." Perhaps the notion is of a flat piece
of wood made by splitting a log. The verb is from O.E. gescildan. Shield volcano (1911) translates Ger. Schildvulkan (1910).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

shield (shēld)
A protective device or structure, such as a lead sheet to protect an individual from x-rays.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
shield   (shēld)  Pronunciation Key 
  1. A wall or housing of an absorbing material, such as concrete or lead, built around a nuclear reactor to prevent the escape of radiation.


  3. A large geographic area where rocks of a continent's craton (the ancient, relatively undisturbed portion of a continental plate) are visible at the surface. A shield is often surrounded by platforms covered with sediment.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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Slang Dictionary

shield definition

  1. n.
    a police officer's badge. : The fuzz flashed his shield, and I knew the game was over.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw-Hill Education.
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Bible Dictionary

Shield definition

used in defensive warfare, varying at different times and under different circumstances in size, form, and material (1 Sam. 17:7; 2 Sam. 1:21; 1 Kings 10:17; 1 Chr. 12:8, 24, 34; Isa. 22:6; Ezek. 39:9; Nahum 2:3). Used figuratively of God and of earthly princes as the defenders of their people (Gen. 15:1; Deut. 33:29; Ps. 33:20; 84:11). Faith is compared to a shield (Eph. 6:16). Shields were usually "anointed" (Isa. 21:5), in order to preserve them, and at the same time make the missiles of the enemy glide off them more easily.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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