human shieldnoun [ C ]
uk/ˌhjuː.mən ˈʃiːld/us/ˌhjuː.mən ˈʃiːld/a person or group of people kept in a particular place in order to stop an enemy from attacking that place:
Military bases were protected by captured enemy soldiers who were housed there as a human shield.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Responding to an attack
- beat
- beat sb off
- beat sb/sth back
- capitulate
- counterattack
- fend sb off
- fight
- fight back
- fight fire with fire idiom
- parry
- repel
- repulse
- resist
- resistance
- resistance
- retreat
- see sb off
- stand up to sb/sth
- strike
- withdrawal
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