shield: Meaning and Definition of

shield

1. a broad piece of armor, varying widely in form and size, carried apart from the body, usually on the left arm, as a defense against swords, lances, arrows, etc.
2. a similar device, often of lightweight plastic, used by riot police to protect themselves from rocks and other thrown objects.
3. something shaped like a shield, variously round, octagonal, triangular, or somewhat heart-shaped.
4. a person or thing that protects.
5. a police officer's, detective's, or sheriff 's badge.
6. a steel screen attached to a gun to protect its crew, mechanism, etc.
7. a movable framework for protecting a miner from cave-ins, etc.
8. 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.
9. a protective plate or the like on the body of an animal, as a scute, enlarged scale, etc.
10. See
11. an escutcheon, esp. one broad at the top and pointed at the bottom, for displaying armorial bearings.
12. (cap.)the constellation Scutum.
13. a vast area of ancient crustal rocks which, together with a platform, constitutes a craton.
14. a protective barrier against nuclear radiation, esp. a lead or concrete structure around a reactor.

1. to protect (someone or something) with or as if with a shield.
2. to serve as a protection for.
3. to hide or conceal; protect by hiding.
4. to avert; forbid.

1. to act or serve as a shield.