▪ I. shielding, vbl. n.
(ˈʃiːldɪŋ)
[-ing1.]
1. The action of the verb shield; an instance of this.
| 1581 A. Hall Iliad i. 3 Whereby [Phœbus] appeasd, some shielding we may haue. 1846 Dickens Pictures from Italy, Milan 133 A reforming Pope would need a little shielding, even now. 1883 Athenæum 27 Oct. 535/1 The most practical authority on military iron shielding in the United Kingdom. |
| Comb. 1875 Morris æneids xii. 491 æneas stayed, and gathered him behind his shielding-gear. |
2. Physics. Material which protects or shields: a. against electric and magnetic fields (cf. shield n. 8 d); also, a shield.
| 1930 Proc. IRE XVIII. 435 The complete exciter unit is enclosed with a metal grill in addition to the individual shielding compartment for the various stages. 1933 Practical Wireless 4 Feb. 962/2 A heavy flexible metal shielding fits tightly over these bakelite shells, and through the shells ordinary rubber-covered lead-in wire is threaded. 1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xvii. 31 The Wagner ground connection..can be used in place of shielding at lower frequencies if the utmost precision is not required. |
b. against radiation (cf. shield n. 8 e).
| 1945 Hawley & Leifson Atomic Energy 185 There was not sufficient radioactive emanation to be dangerous within a radius of fifty feet of the pile; notwithstanding this, precautionary shielding would be necessary in a locomotive unit. 1950 Chemical Engin. Progress XLVI. 109/1 To critical size must be added enough shielding to make reactors safe, and the amount of shielding required..is of considerable volume and weight. 1958 W. K. Mansfield Elem. Nucl. Physics v. 45 The shielding of a reactor will be designed to absorb the γ-rays rather than α and β-rays. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XIII. 319/1 The shielding of the reactor must keep heat losses and radiation levels external to the reactor down to acceptable levels. |
▪ II. shielding, ppl. a.
(ˈʃiːldɪŋ)
[f. shield v. + -ing2.]
That shields or protects.
| 1851 G. W. Curtis Nile Notes xxii. 103 In the tropics, the great tree is a great god. Far outspreading shielding arms, he folds his worshippers from the burning sun. 1878 B. Taylor Deukalion i. ii. 23 And crept for shelter to my shielding arms. |