shelter
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A place where a person or animal may find protection from the elements sometimes as a place to sleep.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
shehlterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈʃɛltɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A 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).
countable
Somewhere one can find protection.
A structure that provides privacy and protection from danger
“The small shelter protected them from the unexpected rain shower.”
Protective covering that provides protection from the weather
A refuge, sanctuary, or (by metonymy) institution that provides temporary housing or a place to sleep for those in need or in danger.
Temporary housing for homeless or displaced persons
verb
transitive
To provide cover from damage or harassment; to shield; to protect.
intransitive
To take cover.
Provide shelter for
“After the earthquake, the government could not provide shelter for the thousands of homeless people.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A 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).
Used this way, shelter is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Structure / protectivenoun
“The small shelter protected them from the unexpected rain shower.”
Provideverb
“After the earthquake, the government could not provide shelter for the thousands of homeless people.”
More ways to use shelter
- “After the earthquake, the government could not provide shelter for the thousands of homeless people.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Upper deck having no overhead protection from the weather, but sheltering the deck below.
A wedge-shaped tent.
A workshop that offers jobs to members of the physically or developmentally disabled population.
A portable shelter (usually of canvas stretched over supporting poles and fastened to the ground with ropes and pegs).
A shelter to protect occupants from the fallout from an atomic bomb.
A chamber (often underground) reinforced against bombing and provided with food and living facilities.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.