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formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body. See Buckler. Now put your shields before your hearts and fight, With hearts more proof than shields. Shak.

One who, or that which, carries a shield.

A sheldrake.

Destitute of a shield, or of protection. -- Shield"less*ly, adv. -- Shield"less*ness, n.

Any species of small burrowing snakes of the family Uropeltidæ, native of Ceylon and Southern Asia. They have a small mouth which can not be dilated.

To defend, as with a shield; to shield. [Archaic] Shak.

An aquatic American plant (Brasenia peltata) having floating oval leaves, and the covered with a clear jelly.

l, as a fess; also, having the ends of the wings turned downward towards the point of the shield.

An escutcheon or ensign armorial; now generally applied to the funeral shield commonly called hatchment. Cussans.

embodiment of impenetrable hardness. Opposed the rocky orb Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield. Milton.

A shield or protective armor; -- applied in mythology to the shield of Jupiter which he gave to Minerva. Also fig.: A shield; a protection.

A small square shield, formerly worn on the shoulders of knights, -- being the prototype of the modern epaulet. Fairholt.

The sacred shield of the Romans, said to have-fallen from heaven in the reign of Numa. It was the palladium of Rome.

ou and love are still my argument. Shak. The abstract or argument of the piece. Jeffrey. [Shields] with boastful argument portrayed. Milton.

Formerly, an armor bearer, as of a knight, an esquire who bore his shield and rendered other services. In later use, one next in degree to a knight, and entitled to armorial bearings. The term is now superseded by esquire. Jacob.

Armor: defensive and offensive arms. Celestial armory, shields, helms, and spears. Milton.

The ensigns armorial of a family, consisting of figures and colors borne in shields, banners, etc., as marks of dignity and distinction, and descending from father to son.

To soil; to stain. [Obs. or Poet.] Beau. & Fl. Ne'er assoil my cobwebbed shield. Wordsworth.

Not furnished with shields or beds for the spores, as the thallus of certain lichens.

Divided into an even number of bends; -- said of a shield or its charge. Cussans.