“shields” is a form of
shield
UK /ˈʃiːld/ · US /ˈʃild/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms shields shielding shielded Shiel
- noun A broad piece of defensive armor, held in hand, formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body.
- noun (figurative) One who protects or defends.
- noun (ornithology) A featherless, flat, fleshy protuberance on the head; a frontal shield.
- noun (ornithology) A flattish patch of iridescent feathers.
- noun (entomology) A heavily hardened, protective plate on an insect's exoskeleton that covers part of its body.
- noun (lichenology) In lichens, a hardened cup or disk surrounded by a rim and containing the fructification, or asci.
- noun (mining, tunnelling) A framework used to protect workmen in making an adit under ground, and capable of being pushed along as excavation progresses.
- noun (science fiction) A field of energy that protects or defends.
- verb (ambitransitive) To protect, to defend. “Sunscreen shields against the harmful effects of solar rays.”
- verb (UK, intransitive) To shelter; to protect oneself.
- verb (electricity) To protect from the influence of.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
bathroom buckler carapace shell cuticle screen harbor harbour
Etymology
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”).
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 sköld (“shield”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌿𐍃 (skildus, “shield”). Compare Breton skoed (“shield”), Irish sciath (“shield”), Scottish Gaelic sgiath (“shield”), Latin scūtum (“shield”), Latgalian škīda (“shield”), Lithuanian skydas (“shield”), Belarusian шчыт (ščyt, “shield”), Bulgarian, Russian, and Ukrainian щит (ščyt, “shield”), Czech and Slovak štít (“shield”), Macedonian штит (štit, “shield”), Polish szczyt (“shield”), Serbo-Croatian штит, štit, ščit (“shield”), Slovene ščit (“shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to dissect, split”).
An alteration of Middle English schilden after Etymology 1, from Old English sċildan, from Proto-West Germanic *skildijan, form Proto-Germanic *skildijaną.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A broad piece of defensive armor, carried on the arm, --formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body. See Buckler.
- noun Anything which protects or defends; defense; shelter; protection.
- verb To cover with, or as with, a shield; to cover from danger; to defend; to protect from assault or injury.
- verb To ward off; to keep off or out. They brought with them their usual weeds, fit to shield the cold to which they had been inured. Spenser.
Etymology [OE. sheld, scheld, AS. scield, scild, sceld, scyld; akin to OS. scild, OFries. skeld, D. & G. schild, OHG. scilt, Icel. skjöldr, Sw. sköld, Dan. skiold, Goth. skildus; of uncertain origin. Cf. Sheldrake.]
Etymology [AS. scidan, scyldan. See Shield, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “shield”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details