Library / English Dictionary

SHELTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A structure that provides privacy and protection from danger

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("shelter" is a kind of...):

construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shelter"):

cookhouse (a detached or outdoor shelter for cooking)

dugout (either of two low shelters on either side of a baseball diamond where the players and coaches sit during the game)

fallout shelter (a shelter to protect occupants from the fallout from an atomic bomb)

haven; oasis (a shelter serving as a place of safety or sanctuary)

hovel; hut; hutch; shack; shanty (small crude shelter used as a dwelling)

army hut; field hut; hut (temporary military shelter)

loft; pigeon loft (a raised shelter in which pigeons are kept)

mantelet; mantlet (portable bulletproof shelter)

asylum; refuge; sanctuary (a shelter from danger or hardship)

sconce (a shelter or screen providing protection from enemy fire or from the weather)

cyclone cellar; storm cellar; tornado cellar (an underground shelter where you can go until a storm passes)

collapsible shelter; tent (a portable shelter (usually of canvas stretched over supporting poles and fastened to the ground with ropes and pegs))

Derivation:

shelter (provide shelter for)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Protective covering that provides protection from the weather

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("shelter" is a kind of...):

protection; protective cover; protective covering (a covering that is intend to protect from damage or injury)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shelter"):

sentry box (a small shelter with an open front to protect a sentry from the weather)

sconce (a shelter or screen providing protection from enemy fire or from the weather)

roost (a shelter with perches for fowl or other birds)

lean-to (rough shelter whose roof has only one slope)

dog house; doghouse; kennel (outbuilding that serves as a shelter for a dog)

cote (a small shelter for domestic animals (as sheep or pigeons))

canopy (a covering (usually of cloth) that serves as a roof to shelter an area from the weather)

birdhouse (a shelter for birds)

bell cot; bell cote (a small shelter for bells; has a gable or shed roof)

Derivation:

shelter (provide shelter for)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Temporary housing for homeless or displaced persons

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("shelter" is a kind of...):

housing; living accommodations; lodging (structures collectively in which people are housed)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shelter"):

camp; refugee camp (shelter for persons displaced by war or political oppression or for religious beliefs)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A way of organizing business to reduce the taxes it must pay on current earnings

Synonyms:

shelter; tax shelter

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("shelter" is a kind of...):

decrease; diminution; reduction; step-down (the act of decreasing or reducing something)

Derivation:

shelter (provide shelter for)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The condition of being protected

Example:

he enjoyed a sense of peace and protection in his new home

Synonyms:

protection; shelter

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("shelter" is a kind of...):

security (the state of being free from danger or injury)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shelter"):

indemnity; insurance (protection against future loss)

radioprotection (protection against harmful effects of radiation)

Derivation:

shelter (provide shelter for)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Invest (money) so that it is not taxable

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "shelter" is one way to...):

commit; invest; place; put (make an investment)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Provide shelter for

Example:

After the earthquake, the government could not provide shelter for the thousands of homeless people

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "shelter" is one way to...):

furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shelter"):

domiciliate; house; put up (provide housing for)

kennel (put up in a kennel)

stable (shelter in a stable)

stall (put into, or keep in, a stall)

harbor; harbour (secretly shelter (as of fugitives or criminals))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

shelter (a structure that provides privacy and protection from danger)

shelter (protective covering that provides protection from the weather)

shelter (a way of organizing business to reduce the taxes it must pay on current earnings)

shelter (the condition of being protected)

Credits

 Context examples: 

They theorized that, during cold spells, people are more likely to seek shelter and so could more easily escape the cold’s effects.

(Extreme temperatures could increase preterm birth risk, NIH)

We are not going to die. We shall land on that island, and we shall be snug and sheltered before the day is done.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Help such as shelters, health centers, and free meals are available.

(Homeless Health Concerns, NIH)

Any area outside a building or shelter.

(Outdoors, NCI Thesaurus)

I should have gone to bed with a sore heart indeed under any other roof but that which sheltered little Em'ly's head.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But this cabin alone had I found occupied, and in this cabin, perforce, I took my shelter.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Let us thrust this creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to some place of shelter and let the county police know what has happened.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Close in under the sheltering rock Buck made his nest.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Place her in safety and comfort: shelter her degradation with secrecy, and leave her.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He thanked God that she had been born and sheltered to such innocence.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)