(1.) A portable shield (2 Samuel 22:31; 1 Chronicles 5:18).

(2.) A shield surrounding the person; the targe or round form; used once figuratively (Psalm 91:4).

(3.) A large shield protecting the whole body (Psalm 35:2; Ezek. 23:24; 26:8).

(4.) A lance or spear; improperly rendered "buckler" in the Authorized Version (1 Chronicles 12:8), but correctly in the Revised Version "spear."

The leather of shields required oiling (2 Samuel 1:21; Isaiah 21:5), so as to prevent its being injured by moisture. Copper (= "brass") shields were also in use (1 Samuel 17:6; 1 Kings 14:27). Those spoken of in 1 Kings 10:16, etc.; 14:26, were probably of massive metal.

The shields David had taken from his enemies were suspended in the temple as mementoes (2 Kings 11:10). (see ARMOUR, SHIELD.)

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) A kind of shield, of various shapes and sizes, worn on one of the arms (usually the left) for protecting the front of the body.

2. (n.) One of the large, bony, external plates found on many ganoid fishes.

3. (n.) The anterior segment of the shell of trilobites.

4. (n.) A block of wood or plate of iron made to fit a hawse hole, or the circular opening in a half-port, to prevent water from entering when the vessel pitches.

5. (v. t.) To shield; to defend.