Shard
/ʃɑːrd/
Definitions
A fragment of a brittle substance, such as glass or pottery, created by breaking something.
/ʃɑːrd/
A fragment of a brittle substance.
The explosion sent shards of glass flying through the air.
💡 Simply: Imagine you drop a glass and it breaks into a bunch of little pieces. Each of those little pieces is a shard! They're often sharp and pointy, like the pieces of a broken plate or bottle.
👶 For kids: A little piece that's broken off something, like a piece of a broken plate or a broken mirror.
More Examples
The archaeologist carefully pieced together the shards of an ancient vase.
I found a shard of pottery while walking on the beach.
The plate shattered into tiny shards when it hit the floor.
How It's Used
"Archaeologists carefully collected the shards of pottery found at the dig site."
"Be careful of the glass shards; they are dangerous."
From Middle English *sherd*, from Old English *sceard* ('fragment, piece'), related to *sceran* ('to shear, cut').
Used since the Old English period to describe broken fragments.
Memory tip
Think of a sharp, broken piece of something. SHARD: A fragment of a broken thing. Shard sounds like SHARP, which can cut, just like a broken shard.
Word Origin
"fragment, piece"