shelter

Etymology

From Middle English sheltron, sheldtrume (“roof or wall formed by locked shields”), from Old English sċildtruma, sċyldtruma (“a phalanx, company (of troops), a tortoise, a covering, shed, shelter”, literally “shield-troop”), from sċyld, sċield (“shield”) + truma (“a troop of soldiers”). Cognate with Scots schilthrum, schiltrum. More at shield, and Old English trymman (“to strengthen”), from trum (“strong, firm”) at trim.

noun

1. A refuge, haven or other cover or protection from something.
   The detective kept them in view. He made his way casually along the inside of the shelter until he reached an open scuttle close to where the two men were standing talking. Eavesdropping was not a thing Larard would have practised from choice, but there were times when, in the public interest, he had to do it, and this was one of them. 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 7, in Well Tackled!
2. An institution that provides temporary housing for homeless people, battered women, etc.

verb

1. (transitive) To provide cover from damage or harassment; to shield; to protect.
   Those ruins sheltered once his sacred head. 1663, John Dryden, Epistle to Dr. Charleton
   You have no convents […] in which such persons may be received and sheltered. 1829, Robert Southey, Sir Thomas More; or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society
2. (intransitive) To take cover.
   During the rainstorm, we sheltered under a tree.