shard

noun

ˈshärd

Synonyms of shard next

: 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

: shell, scale

especially : elytron

or sherd

ˈshərd

: a fragment of a pottery vessel found on sites and in refuse deposits where pottery-making peoples have lived

: highly angular curved glass fragments of tuffaceous sediments

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

Recent Examples on the Web

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Not this tiny Isis, or Byzantine slave bracelet, or blue-green shard of Roman glass. —

Max Ufberg, hazlitt.net, 10 Jan. 2025 While that was happening, the common window through which most Americans learned about the country and the world — TV, newspapers, radio — was shattered into dozens of shards of glass, based on consumer's personal preferences. —

Axios, 8 Jan. 2025 The white medieval cloaks, adorned with primary shards of color, symbolized brilliance and spirituality reaching out to the people. —

NBC News, 7 Dec. 2024 During the early stages of the excavation near Poole Harbour at a construction site in a diverse wetlands habitat, there wasn't much to be found other than a few shards of pottery and some flint, Environment Agency archaeologist Greg Chuter said in a video posted by Wessex Archaeology. —

Ashlyn Messier, Fox News, 26 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for shard