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Glite Dictionary
shield wall

shield wall

1 7.5
A line of soldiers holding shields close together to form a strong defence
  • noun
translation icon : muralla de escudos
  • In battle, they presented a solid shield wall bristling with Spears.

Examples

  • In battle, they presented a solid shield wall bristling with spears.

  • Alfred and his contingent watched on from behind their shield wall as the Danes drew closer.

  • Then they break that shield wall and charge after them.

  • I have a full charge straight to the back of his shield wall with my medium Raiders.

  • And now that his guys are in shield wall, the artillery is going to prepare to fire.

  • Your men probe the shield wall right to left, and throw our full weight on the left flank once the wall is broke.

    Vikingdom (2013)

  • This makes the grass slippery under their feet, making it nearly impossible to keep the ordered ranks of the shield wall intact.

    Blog text (15)

  • Then the Hittites struck, smashing straight through the shield wall and beginning a melee.

  • Standing shoulder to shoulder in a single rank, they made a formidable shield wall.

  • Alfred and his contingent watched on from behind their shield wall as the Danes drew closer.

Synonyms

line
vsshield wall
725 8.1

A defended position where soldiers stand during fighting

is a close interlocked formation of soldiers creating a protective barrier
rank
vsshield wall
88 2.8

A line of people standing side by side

forms a continuous defensive barrier rather than just a row
line of defense
vsshield wall
  • US
1 3.3

A wall or barrier that protects against attack

is formed by soldiers standing close together using hand held protection

Antonyms

to scatter
110 2.7

To make people or animals move quickly in different directions

to disband
43 4.3

To stop being a group, for example a band or committee

How Defensive

shield wall
1 7.5
line of defense
  • US
1 3.3

Surface Forms

shield wall singular
shield walls plural

Morphology

shield + wall

The meaning is directly compositional: a 'wall' made of 'shields' used as a defensive barrier, so the overall sense can be inferred from the parts. This follows regular English noun–noun compounding and has clear cross-linguistic parallels, making it readily understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Shield wall comes from a real battle picture: soldiers stood side by side holding their shields so the shields formed a solid wall against the enemy. That's why 'shield wall' now means a group standing together as a strong 'defense'.