breast shieldn.
/ˈbrɛs(t) ʃiːld/, U.S. /ˈbrɛs(t) ˌʃild/ 1. A device that fits over the breast of a nursing mother for protection; now spec. a flexible rubber or plastic cover with a central perforation to allow milk to flow through, which protects the breast during breastfeeding or while expressing milk with a breast pump. Cf. nipple shield n. at nipple n. Compounds 2.
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1834 in J. Scott Indigestion Unmasked (Advt. section) Breast Shields of Wood covered with prepared Teats.
1915 Nursing World June 343 [For relieving engorged breasts] Gauze wipes, cotton, towel pump, container for milk.., glass breast shield.
1985 B. Spock & M. B. Rothenberg Baby & Child Care 141 A breast shield consists of a single piece of soft rubber in the shape of a flat cone..[which] fits over the front of the breast. As the baby sucks on the rubber nipple a vacuum is created in the cone and draws out some of the milk.
2015 C. Jung Lactivism v. 129 Both electric and manual pumps have a see-through breast shield or flange, which is placed over the nipple.
2. Ornithology. An area of plumage on a bird's breast that is of a distinctive colour or feather type; esp. (in some birds of paradise) a patch of distinctive feathers on the breast of a male which are extended as part of a courtship display.
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1850 J. J. Kaup in W. Jardine Contrib. Ornithol. 68 A[sturina] harpyia... Ash-gray with a black breast-shield [Ger. Brustband].
1949 Auk 66 167 A family of seven [Canada geese] at the refuge, all marked with a broad white collar at the base of the neck and a white breast shield.
2010 C. Gooddie Jewel Hunter xiv. 254 Each bird's metallic green breast-shield was extended so that it jutted out at the sides of the breast, lushly iridescent.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2020; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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