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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Investigators searched his white Jetta but did not find any shards of glass or blood stains. —

Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 2 Nov. 2024 Both campaigns have targeted small, often little-appreciated shards to reach hyper-specific pockets of potential voters. —

Axios, 28 Oct. 2024 Contact with fiberglass shards can irritate your skin, eyes, and respiratory system. —

Anna Giorgi, Verywell Health, 3 Sep. 2024 The ground, too, was littered with thousands of pottery shards. —

Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 23 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for shard