Shinguard

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A rigid protective pad worn over the front of the lower leg to guard against kicks and impacts during sports such as soccer or hockey
2. Padding strapped to the front of the leg below the knee that shields the shin from injury during athletic play
3. A hard shield worn on the lower leg in games like football or cricket to absorb blows to the front of the shin

Etymology: The shinguard is about as transparent as English compounds get: "shin" (the front of the lower leg, from Old English "sinu" or "scinu" and related to the Germanic word for a bone's edge) joined to "guard," meaning a protective covering. Players in sports such as football and hockey strap these plates over the shin to absorb kicks and blows, so the name simply describes what the object does. The word's pieces are both old, and the compound is the kind of plain, descriptive formation that English produces readily whenever a new piece of equipment needs a name.

Synonyms: shin pad, shin protector