Shield wall
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A defensive formation, used from antiquity through the early Middle Ages, in which soldiers stand shoulder to shoulder with their shields overlapping, creating a continuous barrier against enemy attack. historical
- 2 A barrier.
- 3 An impenetrable barrier. figuratively
"Still, in spite of the sensation of being caught between a ‘shield-wall’ of opaque references and a ‘word-hoard’ that is old and strange, such readers are also bound to feel a certain ‘shock of the new’."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Still, in spite of the sensation of being caught between a ‘shield-wall’ of opaque references and a ‘word-hoard’ that is old and strange, such readers are also bound to feel a certain ‘shock of the new’."
Etymology
See Old English sċieldweall, with the same meaning.