shield

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A broad piece of metal, wood, or other material held in the hand to protect the body in battle.

   The soldier raised his shield to block the blow.

2. 2
   noun

   Anything that protects or defends.

   The trees act as a shield against the strong wind.

3. 3
   verb

   To protect someone or something from danger or harm.

   She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the bright sun.

From Middle English scheld, shelde, from Old English scield (“shield”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeldu, from Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“cut, split”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian skyld (“shield”), Bavarian Schuid (“shield”), Dutch schild (“shield”), German and Low German Schild (“shield”), Luxembourgish Schëld (“shield”), Yiddish שילד (shild, “shield”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk skjold (“shield”), Elfdalian stjöld (“shield”), Faroese skjøldur (“shield”), Gutnish skiåld (“shield”), Icelandic skjöldur (“shield”), Swedish…

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