Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use shield in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Shield means a broad piece of defensive armor, held in hand, formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body. Example: “Sunscreen shields against the harmful effects of solar rays.”

Examples of shield by meaning

nounA broad piece of defensive armor, held in hand, formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body.

  • Beowulf, behind his shield, thrust forth only his right arm.1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 44

nounA framework used to protect workmen in making an adit under ground, and capable of being pushed along as excavation...

  • The earth was excavated from the sunken cylinder; the shield was inserted into it, and the tunnelling began, the target being Wapping, on the opposite bank.2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 88

nounA police badge.

  • The chief put something in his hand and Bosch looked down to see the gold detective's shield.2005, Michael Connelly, The closers: a novel

verbTo protect, to defend.

  • Sunscreen shields against the harmful effects of solar rays.
  • Shots rang out and a 15-year-old boy, shielding a woman from the line of fire, was killed.2004, Chris Wallace, “Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)

verbTo shelter; to protect oneself.

  • The government has updated its guidance for people who are shielding taking into account that COVID-19 disease levels have decreased over the last few weeks.2020 May 31, “Guidance on shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from COVID-19”, in GOV.UK

More sentences with shield

  • The knight was unhorsed when his opponent's lance struck his shield.From the entry unhorse
  • The history of the East–Antarctic shield has been uncovered through uranium–lead geochronology.From the entry geochronology
  • The symbol for the planet Mars is a stylized representation of the shield and spear of the god Mars.From the entry stylized
  • The king armed his knights with swords and shields.From the entry arm
  • He charges his shield with three roses or.From the entry charge
  • The blazoning of the knights' shields was done by heralds.From the entry blazoning
  • Lava domes are rarely seen in shield volcanos.From the entry lava dome
  • On his shield was a lion rampant sable, pizzled azure.From the entry pizzled
  • The shield depicts a pelican vulning herself.From the entry vuln
  • They carried dragonskin shields and wore matching dragonskin boots.From the entry dragonskin
  • The shield bore a red cross.From the entry bear
  • When it was revealed he had shielded a friend from prosecution when he was the district attorney, he was out of the running for a judicial appointment.From the entry out of the running
  • The US, Russia, UK, France, and China have liberum veto power in the UN Security Council, allowing them to shield themselves and their allies from UN oversight.From the entry liberum veto
  • Defensive shields and domiciles may help explain the uneven radiation of chrysomelid subfamilial and tribal clades.2023 August 30, Caroline Simmrita Chaboo, Sally Adam, Kenji Nishida, Luke Schletzbaum, “Architecture, construction, retention, and repair…. From the entry chrysomelid
  • “Rich people use post office boxes to shield themselves from unwanted correspondence.2022, Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry, Penguin (2023), page 307. From the entry post office box
  • An air tightly shields them which makes them float leisurelier, nevertheless comfortable.2022, Oliver Carey, “Journey’s End”, in This Is It, London: Austin Macauley Publishers, →ISBN. From the entry leisurelier
  • The serials worked in pairs, one with long shields and one with short shields.2013, Tony Moore, Policing Notting Hill: Fifty Years of Turbulence, page 324. From the entry serial
  • We've entered orbit around an unexploited gas giant and are using it as a shield.2013 March 19, Greg Bear, String 19, in Halo: Silentium (Forerunner Saga; 3), New York: Tor, →ISBN, page 188. From the entry unexploited
  • Globalization hampered efforts to shield the environment and lift the living standards of workers.2013, Larry Allen, “Overview”, in The Global Economic Crisis: A Chronology, London: Reaktion Books, →ISBN, pages 9–10. From the entry rain fire and brimstone
  • Thorfinn clashed his shield against Vallon's and swung his axe to hook Vallon's ankle.2012, Robert Lyndon, Hawk Quest. From the entry clash
  • The feedback from Saren's death seemed to entirely overload Sovereign's shields.2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Reaper Vulnerabilities Codex entry. From the entry design flaw
  • Altman shielded the holopod in his hands, watched the image that appeared, rotating slowly between his palms.2011, B.K. Evenson, Martyr, →ISBN. From the entry holopod
  • Minutes of radiation exposure will overload shields and hours of exposure will kill.2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Haestrom Codex entry. From the entry sun
  • But we already know that a shield-toad is a Frenchman, while the sun is Apollo's shield.2010, Hugh Peter McGrath, Michael Comenetz, Valery's Graveyard. From the entry shield-toad
  • Sometimes, they held all their scutums together to form a huge shield overhead.2007, Christine Dugan, “A Powerful Army”, in Julius Caesar: Roman Leader, Teacher Created Materials, published 2008, →ISBN, page 15. From the entry scutums
  • The oval medallion consists of a crowned shield with two rampant lions as supporters.2004, Jamestown Rediscovery, 1994-2004, page 4. From the entry charbocle
  • The triparted shield consists of a charbocle (Cleve) , a fess checky (Mark), and three chevrons (Ravensburg).2004, Jamestown Rediscovery, 1994-2004, page 4. From the entry charbocle
  • One must know reload rates, relative shield damage, and physics (to a small degree).2002, Samus, “Releasing the 1.5 patch unofficially...”, in alt.games.descent (Usenet). From the entry trichording
  • In most cases the event is shielded by a large mass and only telltales arrive on earth.2000, Dany Page, Jorge G. Hirsch, From the Sun to the Great Attractor, page 49. From the entry telltale
  • The front side has a raised border; it is decorated with a tabula between two shields.1997, J. H. M. Strubbe, Arai Epitymbioi: Imprecations Against Desecrators of the Grave in the Greek Epitaphs of Asis Minor, page 210. From the entry tabula
  • A bedjacket is almost as antiquated as a bustle or a dress shield.1993, Carol Shields, chapter 9, in The Stone Diaries, Toronto: Random House of Canada, page 331. From the entry bedjacket
  • The GPO always specified a full complement of fittings, leg shields, footboards, bulbhorn and ‘protectomotor’ air cleaner.1992, Wright, Owen, BSA : the complete story, Crowood Press, page 65. From the entry bulbhorn
  • That the mysterious pursuers were not as his concern suggested, meant they were equipped with shields.1992, Andre Norton, Forerunner Foray, Roc Book, →ISBN, page 208. From the entry ultraconcentration
  • These vulgar, pleasure-seeking people, so frank and clamorous, were too uninhibited for his shielded and involuted life.1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy. From the entry involute

Meaning of shield

  1. noun A broad piece of defensive armor, held in hand, formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body.
  2. noun One who protects or defends.
  3. noun A featherless, flat, fleshy protuberance on the head; a frontal shield.

Full definition of shield

Questions about shield in a sentence

How do you use shield in a sentence?
Shield is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Sunscreen shields against the harmful effects of solar rays.”
What is a short sentence with shield?
“The shield bore a red cross.”
What does shield mean?
Shield means a broad piece of defensive armor, held in hand, formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shield (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use shield in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/shield. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.