shelternoun [ C or U ]
uk/ˈʃel.tər/us/ˈʃel.t̬ɚ/B2 (a building designed to give) protection from bad weather, danger, or attack:
an air-raid shelter
They opened a shelter to provide temporary housing for the city's homeless.
The trees gave/provided some shelter from the rain.
find/take shelter
B2 to protect yourself from bad weather, danger, or attack:
We took shelter for the night in an abandoned house.
More examples
- There was no shelter from the merciless heat.
- The bomb shelter has concrete walls that are three metres thick.
- Spare a thought for all those without shelter on a cold night like this.
- An upturned boat on the beach provided shelter.
- When the air raid siren went off people ran to their shelters.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Safe & enclosed spaces
- bolthole
- bunker
- bus shelter
- cover
- covert
- dry
- fallout shelter
- fastness
- hideout
- hidey-hole
- hiding place
- island
- lair
- nook
- safe haven
- safe house
- sanctuary
- sheltered accommodation
- sunblind
- women's refuge
See more results »
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Defending and protecting
Changing homes & moving
shelterverb
uk/ˈʃel.tər/us/ˈʃel.t̬ɚ/shelter verb (PROTECT)
C2 [ I or T ] to protect yourself, or another person or thing, from bad weather, danger, or attack:
We were caught in a thunderstorm, without anywhere to shelter.
A group of us were sheltering from the rain under the trees.
[ T ] to give someone a secret hiding place so that they will not be caught by the army, police, etc.:
Local people risked their own lives to shelter resistance fighters from the army.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Defending and protecting
- baby
- bandobast
- bastion
- biodefence
- cherish
- featherbed
- guard
- kill
- mollycoddle
- mother
- out of harm's way idiom
- overprotective
- patrol
- proof
- proof
- protect
- protective
- rustproof
- wrap
- wrap sb (up) in cotton wool idiom
See more results »
shelter verb (AVOID TAX)
[ T ] US If you shelter income, you legally avoid paying taxes on it:
Their accountant suggested some novel ways of sheltering their retirement income.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Taxation
- capital gains tax
- capitation
- chargeable
- corporation tax
- custom
- indirect tax
- inheritance tax
- levy
- National Insurance
- octroi
- rateable value
- tax avoidance
- tax break
- tax credit
- tax exile
- tax-deductible
- tax-exempt
- VATable
- welfare state
- withholding tax
See more results »