Did you know?
Shard dates back to Old English (where it was spelled sceard) and is related to Old English scieran, meaning "to cut." English speakers have adopted the modernized shard spelling for most uses, but archaeologists prefer to spell the word sherd when referring to the ancient fragments of pottery (sometimes referred to specifically as potsherds) they unearth. While shard initially referred to exactly such items, today the word is also used more broadly to encompass slivers of intangible concepts. A baseless accusation may be made "without a shard of evidence," and fans of the losing team may "cling to a shard of hope" until the final score. The utility of shard is its, ahem, point.
Examples of shard in a Sentence
Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Dec. 2025
Her eyes might get shards of glass in them.
—Victoria Barry, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025
Making his way blindly back around the jagged metal shard, moving along the side of the Gemini—finding the handholds and Velcro and the ship’s aft cable without the benefit of vision, all the while battling to keep his heart rate under control—was no small thing.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 11 Nov. 2025
First responders transported Plant to a hospital, where medical staff spent hours removing shards of glass from both eyes, per the outlets.
—Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 11 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shard
Cite this Entry
“Shard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shard. Accessed 17 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
shard
noun
Share