shelter

plural shelters

1. Somewhere one can find protection.
   1. countableA place where a person or animal may find protection from the elements (especially rain, storms, or cold) sometimes as a place to sleep (such as a cave).

      rock shelter

      1 more example

      The band of explorers found a shelter behind the waterfall, which they rested at for three days.

   2. countableusuallyA bare-bones above-ground structure meant to provide temporary cover from the elements; usually small and with no door to close.

      bus shelter

      2 more examples

      The detective kept them in view. He made his way casually along the inside of the shelter until he reached an open scuttle close to where the two men were standing talking. Eavesdropping was not a thing Larard would have practised from choice, but there were times when, in the public interest, he had to do it, and this was one of them.

      1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 7, in Well Tackled!

      waiting shelter

   3. countableA place for protection from deadly conditions outside, including military assault; usually partly or fully underground.

      tornado shelter

      2 more examples

      fallout shelter

      air-raid shelter

   4. countableA refuge, sanctuary, or (by metonymy) institution that provides temporary housing or a place to sleep for those in need or in danger.

      (in compounds)

      2 more examples

      women's shelter

      homeless shelter

      Synonyms: home

   5. countableoftenAn animal shelter.

      kill shelter

      1 more example

      I wish more people would look for pets at the shelter before turning to breeders!

      Synonyms: home

2. uncountableThat which provides protection or cover.

   Along with air, water, and food, shelter is often recognized as a human necessity.

3. abstractuncountableThe state of being protected or shielded.

present singular third person shelters · participle present sheltering · participle past sheltered · past sheltered

1. transitiveTo provide cover from damage or harassment; to shield; to protect.

   Those ruins sheltered once his sacred head.

   1663, John Dryden, Epistle to Dr. Charleton

   1 more example

   You have no convents […] in which such persons may be received and sheltered.

   1829, Robert Southey, Sir Thomas More; or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society

   Synonyms: harbor

2. intransitiveTo take cover.

   During the rainstorm, we sheltered under a tree.