shard

noun \ ˈshärd \

Updated on: 10 May 2018

Definition of shard

1 a : a piece or fragment of a brittle substance

shards of glass

; broadly : a small piece or part : scrap

little shards of time and space recorded by the camera's lens
—Rosalind Krauss

b : shell, scale; especially : elytron

2 or sherd play \ˈshərd\ : a fragment of a pottery vessel found on sites and in refuse deposits where pottery-making peoples have lived

3 : highly angular curved glass fragments of tuffaceous sediments

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shard was our Word of the Day on 11/13/2013. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of shard from the Web

In one jar, the teens place shards of copper in the water - with the copper acting as the experimental contaminant.

— perry stein, ajc, "How hackers tried to ruin the odds of 3 black teens winning a NASA competition," 4 May 2018
In one jar, the teens place shards of copper in the water - with the copper acting as the experimental contaminant.

— perry stein, chicagotribune.com, "Three black teens are finalists in a NASA competition. Then hackers spewing racism tried to ruin their odds.," 3 May 2018
In one jar, the teens place shards of copper in the water – with the copper acting as the experimental contaminant.

— author: perry stein, Anchorage Daily News, "‘Hidden figures in the making’: NASA ends voting for prestigious science competition over racist attacks on students," 3 May 2018
Time goes in one direction: a glass shatters into thousands of pieces, but time does not reverse so that the pile of shards can reconstruct itself into a glass.

— andrea gawrylewski, Scientific American, "Debunking Animal Myths, the Truth about Time and Other New Science Books," 1 May 2018
It' shard to turn off what Mother Nature installed at the point of manufacture.

— craig hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, "Yes, you can own a tiger as a pet in Texas but it's not recommended," 30 Apr. 2018
Gerardot broke into her house through a front door, and was careful to clean up the shards of broken glass that had scattered to the floor, according to Radnor Township Police Superintendent William Colarulo.

— david gambacorta, Philly.com, "Radnor murder-suicide sparked by love triangle, police say," 24 Apr. 2018
One awful night after Charley has hired on at the racetrack, the secretary's jealous husband shows up at their door, bursts into their home, and puts Ray through a window, impaling him on a shard of glass.

— j.r. jones, Chicago Reader, "Lean on Pete tells the story of a horse and a teenager who feels like one," 12 Apr. 2018
In the 1990s, British architect Zaha Hadid designed the campus fire station, topped by what looks like a giant shard.

— j.s. marcus, WSJ, "Nightclub at the Museum: Decades of Disco Design," 16 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'shard.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Shard dates back to Old English (where it was spelled sceard), and it is related to the Old English word scieran, meaning "to cut." English speakers have adopted the modernized shard spelling for most uses, but archeologists prefer to spell the word sherd when referring to the ancient fragments of pottery they unearth. Other specialized uses of the word shard include a sense referring to the thick front wings in beetles that protect a hind pair of wings and another sense used for the highly angular curved glass fragments of a type of volcanic rock formation.

Origin and Etymology of shard

Middle English, from Old English sceard; akin to Old English scieran to cut — more at shear

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

Other Archaeology Terms

Attic, Byzantine, Paleolithic, cairn, core, flint, horizon, neolithic, stratum

SHARD Defined for English Language Learners

shard

noun

Definition of shard for English Language Learners

: a sharp piece of something (such as glass or pottery)

SHARD Defined for Kids

shard

noun \ ˈshärd \

Definition of shard for Students

: a sharp piece or fragment of something

Learn More about shard

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shard

Definition of shard

shard was our Word of the Day on 11/13/2013. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of shard from the Web

Did You Know?

Origin and Etymology of shard

Other Archaeology Terms

SHARD Defined for English Language Learners

shard

Definition of shard for English Language Learners

SHARD Defined for Kids

shard

Definition of shard for Students

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shard was our Word of the Day on 11/13/2013. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of shard from the Web

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Origin and Etymology of shard

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SHARD Defined for English Language Learners

shard

Definition of shard for English Language Learners

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Definition of shard for Students

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