human shield

English

Pronunciation

  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Noun

human shield (plural human shields)

  1. (military) Civilians which a military group has deliberately placed combat targets near to deter an enemy from attacking those targets.
  2. (figurative, rhetoric) Third parties used cynically to divert attention away from accusations against oneself.
    • 2019 July 17, Talia Lavin, “When Non-Jews Wield Anti-Semitism as Political Shield”, in GQ‎[1], archived from the original on 23 August 2026:
      And after the past few days, in which a fleet of Republicans and the president himself have utilized Jews as human shields for racist rhetoric, the Jews are tired, tired, tired of being used as defenses against naked racism, tired of being used to justify conditions at detention camps. Just plain tired.

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