Definition of "pavise" []

• A shield of large size, four or five feet long and broad enough to cover the whole person, used especially in sieges. In the quotation the word is used of a broad-brimmed hat. (noun)
• Same as pavesade. (noun)
• To provide with large shields.

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "Meanwhile, to hold you for a while, here's the latest wonder painted for me by Jen Haley: a crossbowman's pavise in 54mm scale."
• "With the other he seized the top of a wooden packing-box, and holding this in front of his chest and abdomen as a Kaffir would hold his pavise, or rawhide shield, to ward off a thrust from an assagai, he walked straight toward his adversary."
• "The young bride and bridegroom had first to perform a stately pavise before the whole assembly in the centre of the floor, in which, poor young things, they acquitted themselves much as if they were in the dancing - master's hands."