Shard (?), n.
A plant; chard.
[Obs.]
Dryden.
© Webster 1913.
Shard, n. [AS. sceard, properly a p. p. from the root of scearn to shear, to cut; akin to D. schaard a fragment, G. scharte a notch, Icel. skar. See Shear, and cf. Sherd.] [Written also sheard, and sherd.]
1.
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.
2. Zool.
The hard wing case of a beetle.
They are his shards, and he their beetle.
Shak.
3.
A gap in a fence.
[Obs.]
Stanyhurst.
4.
A boundary; a division.
[Obs. & R.]
Spenser.
© Webster 1913.