shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

is a hand-held protective device meant to intercept attacks. Shield may also refer to:

Forms of protection

From attack

Human shield A human shield is a non-combatant (or a group of non-combatants) who either volunteers or is forced to shield a legitimate military target in order to deter the enemy from attacking it. The use of human shields as a resistance measure was popula ...

, the use of civilians to deter an attack in warfare *

Riot shield A riot shield is a lightweight protection device, typically deployed by police and some military organizations, though also utilized by protestors. Riot shields are typically long enough to cover an average-sized person from the top of the head to ...

, used by police forces around the world for crowd control purposes

From radiation

* Cold shield, used to protect an object from radiative heating *

Electromagnetic shielding In electrical engineering, electromagnetic shielding is the practice of reducing or blocking the electromagnetic field (EMF) in a space with barriers made of conductive or magnetic materials. It is typically applied to enclosures, for isolating ...

, the use of conductive material to block electromagnetic fields *

Lead shielding Lead shielding refers to the use of lead as a form of radiation protection to shield people or objects from radiation so as to reduce the effective dose. Lead can effectively attenuate certain kinds of radiation because of its high density and ...

, the use of lead as a form of radiation protection *

Radiation shield Radiation protection, also known as radiological protection, is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The protection of people from harmful effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, and the means for achieving this". Exposur ...

, protection against ionizing radiation *

Shielded cable A shielded cable or screened cable is an electrical cable that has a common conductive layer around its conductors for electromagnetic shielding. This shield is usually covered by an outermost layer of the cable. Common types of cable shieldi ...

, electrical conductors enclosed by a conductive layer

Other forms of protection

* Dalkon Shield, a contraceptive intrauterine device (IUD) * Gravitational shield, a hypothetical process of shielding an object from the influence of a gravitational field *

Heat shield In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...

, which protects a spacecraft or ballistic missile *

Tunnelling shield A tunnelling shield is a protective structure used during the excavation of large, man-made tunnels. When excavating through ground that is soft, liquid, or otherwise unstable, there is a potential health and safety hazard to workers and the proj ...

, used in excavation through soft soil * Shielding, or

cocooning Cocooning is staying inside one's home, insulated from perceived danger, instead of going out.ctionary. The term was coined in 1981 by Faith Popcorn, a trend forecaster and marketing consultant. It is used in social science, marketing, parenting ...

, action taken by those who are clinically extremely vulnerable in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic

Currency

Écu The term ''écu'' () may refer to one of several French coins. The first ''écu'' was a gold coin (the ''écu d'or'') minted during the reign of Louis IX of France, in 1266. The value of the ''écu'' varied considerably over time, and silver co ...

("shield" in French), unit of currency, historically used in France *

Escudo The escudo (Portuguese: 'shield') is a unit of currency historically used in Portugal and its colonies in South America, Asia, and Africa. It was originally worth 16 silver . The Cape Verdean escudo and the former Portuguese escudo (PTE), each ...

("shield" in Portuguese and Spanish), unit of currency, historically used in Portugal, Spain, and their former colonies, and still used in Cape Verde to this day *

Scudo (disambiguation) Scudo may refer to: Currency * Bolivian scudo * Italian scudo * Lombardy-Venetia scudo * Maltese scudo * Milanese scudo * Papal States scudo * Piedmont scudo * Sardinian scudo The scudo (plural: ''scudi'') was the currency of the island Kingdom of ...

("shield" in Italian), a unit of currency, historically used in Bolivia, several former Italian states, and Malta *

Shield nickel The Shield nickel was the first United States five-cent piece to be made out of copper-nickel, the same alloy of which American nickels are struck today. Designed by James B. Longacre, the coin was issued from 1866 until 1883, when it was repla ...

, the first United States five cent piece to be made out of copper-nickel

Geography and geology

Shield (geology) A shield is a large area of exposed Precambrian crystalline igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks that form tectonically stable areas. These rocks are older than 570 million years and sometimes date back to around 2 to 3.5 billion years. Th ...

, a large area of exposed rocks that is tectonically stable * Shield Nunatak, a prominent nunatak in Antarctica *

Shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...

, a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid lava flows

Arts, entertainment, and media

Fictional entities

Shield (Archie Comics) The Shield is the name of several superheroes created by MLJ (now known as Archie Comics). Appearing months before Captain America, the Shield has the distinction of being the first superhero with a costume based upon United States patriotic icon ...

, one of several fictional patriotic superheroes *

Shield (Artemis Fowl) This is a list of fictional concepts in ''Artemis Fowl'', a novel series by Eoin Colfer. Fairy concepts Bio-bomb A high-tech, fairy-manufactured guided missile, also known as a "bio-bomb" or a "blue-rinse" because of its blue colour. Once deto ...

, in the Artemis Fowl novel series, a magical ability possessed by fairies *

S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often deals ...

, a fictional agency in the Marvel comics universe, led by Nick Fury * Scyld Scefing (or Shield Sheafson), a legendary Danish king in the epic poem ''Beowulf''

Games

* ''Pokémon Shield'', one of the two paired ''

Pokémon Sword and Shield and are 2019 role-playing video games developed by Game Freak and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch console. They are the first installments in the eighth generation of the ''Pokémon'' video game series ...

'' games for the Nintendo Switch * ''The Shield'' (video game), based on the television series

Television

* ''

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and L ...

'', a television series based on the Marvel comics * ''

The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt poli ...

'', a television police drama

Other uses in arts, entertainment, and media

* ''Aspis'' (Menander), translated as ''The Shield'', a comedy play by Menander * "Shield" (song), a song by Deep Purple on the album ''The Book of Taliesyn'' * ''Shield'' (1963), a science-fiction novel by

Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...

* ''

Shield of Heracles The ''Shield of Heracles'' ( grc, Ἀσπὶς Ἡρακλέους, ''Aspis Hērakleous'') is an archaic Greek epic poem that was attributed to Hesiod during antiquity. The subject of the poem is the expedition of Heracles and Iolaus against Cyc ...

'', an archaic Greek epic poem attributed to Hesiod, concerning the expedition of Heracles and Iolaus against Cycnus

Sports

Baskerville Shield The Baskerville Shield is a trophy awarded to the winner of rugby league test series between England and New Zealand. It named in honour of Albert Henry Baskerville, who organised the first ever tour by New Zealand of Great Britain in 1907. Th ...

, a trophy awarded to the winner of rugby league test series between Great Britain and New Zealand *

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Foo ...

, a Northern Irish football competition *

County Championship Shield The Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3 (formerly County Championship Shield) is an annual rugby union competition in England between teams representing English counties. It was formed in 2005 when it known as the County Championship Pl ...

, formed in 2008 and originally played for by second tier teams in the RFU County Championship *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

, an English football trophy *

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association. The IFA is the governing body of football in the state of West Bengal, came into existence in 1893. Named after the association, the IFA Shield tourn ...

, an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association *

Indonesian Community Shield The Indonesian Community Shield was a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Indonesia every year. It was contested by the winners of the Indonesia Super League/Indonesian Premier League and Piala Indonesia in th ...

, a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Indonesia every year *

Istanbul Shield The Istanbul Shield ( tr, İstanbul Şildi) was a football tournament for Istanbul clubs in Turkey which was organised between 1930 and 1939. At the beginning it was decided that the club which would win the most titles during the nine-year span wo ...

, a Turkish football tournament which organised between 1930 and 1939 * J. J. Giltinan Shield, an Australian rugby league football trophy *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

, a football trophy in the Netherlands named after legendary Dutch football player Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup *

League Leaders' Shield The League Leaders' Shield is a shield awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League in the sport of rugby league football. Currently, and for most of Super League's history, the championship is decided on the basis of a play-off se ...

, a trophy awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League in the sport of rugby league football *

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

, a perpetual shield awarded to the Australian state cricket team that wins the final *

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

, an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system *

Thacker Shield The Thacker Shield is a rugby league football trophy awarded on an annual basis to the winner of a match between the champion clubs of the Canterbury Rugby League and West Coast Rugby League. History The shield was donated by Dr Henry Thacker in ...

, a rugby league football trophy awarded to the winner of a match between the champion clubs of the Canterbury Rugby League and West Coast Rugby League *

The Shield (professional wrestling) The Shield was a professional wrestling stable in WWE that consisted of Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. Their original characters were mercenaries for CM Punk; however, they quickly became mainstay main-event names. The group de ...

, a professional wrestling stable in WWE

Technology and transportation

Bumper (car) A bumper is a structure attached to or integrated with the front and rear ends of a motor vehicle, to absorb impact in a minor collision, ideally minimizing repair costs. Stiff metal bumpers appeared on automobiles as early as 1904 that had a ...

, known as shield in British English * Shield, name for expansion boards for

Arduino Arduino () is an open-source hardware and software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardware products are licensed unde ...

microcontroller kits * The Nvidia range of Android-based gaming products, including: **

Nvidia Shield TV The Nvidia Shield TV (Shield Android TV or just Nvidia Shield) is an Android TV-based digital media player produced by Nvidia as part of its Shield brand of Android devices. First released in May 2015, the Shield was initially marketed by Nvidi ...

Shield Portable The Nvidia Shield Portable (Nvidia Shield or NSP) is a handheld game console developed by Nvidia, released on July 31, 2013. The console runs on Android Lollipop 5.1, featuring a flip 130mm (5-inch) touchscreen display with 1280×720 resolutio ...

Shield Tablet The Shield Tablet, later relaunched as the Shield Tablet K1, is a gaming tablet, developed by Nvidia and released on July 29, 2014. It was Nvidia's second portable gaming device that uses Android. Compared to the Shield Portable, the controller ...

Other uses

Shield (heraldry) In heraldry, an escutcheon () is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word can be used in two related senses. In the first sense, an escutcheon is the shield upon which a coat of arms is displayed. In the s ...

, the principal portion of a coat of arms * Shield (surname) *

Highway shield A highway shield or route marker is a sign denoting the route number of a highway, usually in the form of a symbolic shape with the route number enclosed. As the focus of the sign, the route number is usually the sign's largest element, with oth ...

, the United States uses shield-shaped signs for route markers, signs displaying the name and/or number of the road along which it is placed *

Shielding effect In chemistry, the shielding effect sometimes referred to as atomic shielding or electron shielding describes the attraction between an electron and the nucleus in any atom with more than one electron. The shielding effect can be defined as a re ...

, in chemistry, reduced attraction of electrons to an atomic nucleus *

Scutum (constellation) Scutum is a small constellation. Its name is Latin for shield, and it was originally named Scutum Sobiescianum by Johannes Hevelius in 1684. Located just south of the celestial equator, its four brightest stars form a narrow diamond shape. It ...

(Latin for "Shield"), a small constellation near the celestial equator