GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   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. skarð. See Shear, and cf. Sherd.] [Written also sheard, and sherd.]
   A piece or fragment of an earthen vessel, or a like brittle substance, as the shell of an egg or snail.
   Shak.
   
   1913 Webster
   The precious dish
   Broke into shards of beauty on the board.
   E. Arnold.
   
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   (Zool.) The hard wing case of a beetle.
   1913 Webster
   They are his shards, and he their beetle.
   Shak.
   
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   A gap in a fence. [Obs.]
   Stanyhurst.
   
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   A boundary; a division. [Obs. & R.]
   Spenser.
   
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2.       
   Sherd , n. A fragment; -- now used only in composition, as in potsherd. See Shard.
   1913 Webster
   The thigh . . . which all in sherds it drove.
   Chapman.
   
   1913 Webster