What does "shard" mean?

Shard: A piece or fragment of an earthen vessel, or a like brittle substance, as the shell of an egg or snail. Shak. The precious dish Broke into shards of beauty on the board. E. Arnold.

Additional senses

  1. 2.(Zoöl.) The hard wing case of a beetle. They are his shards, and he their beetle. Shak.
  2. 3.A gap in a fence. [Obs.] Stanyhurst.
  3. 4.A boundary; a division. [Obs. & R.] Spenser.

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