Shard \Shard\, n. [AS. sceard, properly a p. p. from the root of
scearn to shear, to cut; akin to D. schaard a fragment, G.
scharte a notch, Icel. skar[eth]. See Shear, and cf.
Sherd.]
[Written also sheard, and sherd.]
1. A piece or fragment of an earthen vessel, or a like
brittle substance, as the shell of an egg or snail.
--Shak.
The precious dish Broke into shards of beauty on the
board. --E. Arnold.
2. (Zo["o]l.) The hard wing case of a beetle.
They are his shards, and he their beetle. --Shak.
3. A gap in a fence. [Obs.]
--Stanyhurst.
4. A boundary; a division. [Obs. & R.]
--Spenser.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|