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The boss of a shield, at or near the middle, and usually projecting, sometimes in a sharp spike.

resses of kings, nobles, and prelates. It is represented in heraldry by a series of small shields placed close together, and alternately white and blue. Fairholt. No vair or ermine decked his garment. Sir W. Scott. Counter vair (Her.), a fur resembling vair, except in the arrangement of the patches or figures.…

Charged with vair; variegated with shield-shaped figures. See Vair.

war, or in the military life; a soldier; a champion. Warriors old with ordered spear and shield. Milton. Warrior ant (Zoöl.), a reddish ant (Formica sanguinea) native of Europe and America. It is one of the species which move in armies to capture and enslave other ants.

ving on wood; a wood cut; also, a print from such an engraving. -- Wood fern. (Bot.) See Shield fern, under Shield. -- Wood fiber. (a) (Bot.) Fibrovascular tissue. (b) Wood comminuted, and reduced to a powdery or dusty mass. -- Wood fretter (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of beetles whose larvæ bore in the wood…

An appendage to the shield, placed above it, and supporting the crest (see Illust. of Crest). It generally represents a twist of two cords of silk, one tinctured like the principal metal, the other like the principal color in the arms.