thought shield n.
a mental barrier that prevents one’s thoughts from being read by a telepath; = mind shield n.
Paranormal
-
1931
page image
Arthur Leo Zagat
Nat Schachner
bibliography
You see, I was wearing the thought-shield, and according to my experience and the explanation of Arkon, no least thought vibration should escape through the barrier of its field.
Back to 20,000 A.D. in Wonder Stories Mar. 1143/2 -
1931
page image
Arthur Leo Zagat
Nat Schachner
bibliography
‘Weren’t you afraid the Jed would know of your plans by reading your thoughts, and destroy you?’ Sid laughed. ‘A fine reporter you are. Blind as a bat. Look!’ I stared at him again, and was never more shamed in my life. For, encircling his forehead, plain for all to see, was—a thought-shield. So befuddled had I been that in all this time I had not noticed this obvious adornment on the heads of all who were congregated there.
Back to 20,000 A.D. in Wonder Stories Mar. 1146/1 -
1940
page image
A. E. van Vogt
bibliography
She must have known her thought shield was faulty; and so, with the purest of animal cunning, she had allowed that pathetic little story to leak through, designed to show him that she would never, oh, never, have the courage for a fight to the finish.
Slan in Astounding Science-Fiction Nov. 121/1 -
1951
page image
James H. Schmitz
bibliography
Zone Agent Pagadan, for whom any kind of thought-shield on which she really directed her attention became as sheerest summer gossamer.
Space Fear in Astounding Science Fiction Mar. 33/1 -
1956
page image
Harry Warner, Jr.
bibliography
I had time to take careful aim, even to realize that my thought shield must be leaking and betraying the aircraft’s location, before I fired.
Think No Evil in Science Fiction Quarterly Feb. 12/2 -
1961
page image
Cordwainer Smith
bibliography
I capped my mind so tightly that the anti-telepathy felt like a headache…. Underneath my thought shield an animal thought crept in.
Alpha Ralpha Boulevard in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction June 18/2 -
1970
James Blish
bibliography
Who benefits from a thought-shield around Organia? None of us can begin to guess why the Organians would have wanted such a shield. [Ibid. xi. 79] The emotional effect of the thought-shield on the officers and crew was so profound that it took another forty-eight [hours] before anyone was working at even half his usual efficiency.
Spock Must Die! x. 73 -
1983
page image
Julian May
bibliography
It is virtually impossible, even for a Grand Master, to probe deep thought levels at a distance. It is also difficult or impossible to farsense a person who has erected a superior thought-shield.
Nonborn King 128 -
2015
page image
Lindsay Smith
bibliography
‘You or Saxton, Anna. It has to be one of you.’ Her thought-shield unravels for a moment as she struggles to keep calm.
Skandal 116
Research requirements
antedating 1931
Earliest cite
Nat Schachner and A. L. Zagat, in Wonder Stories
Research History
Mike Christie submitted a 1951 cite from James H. Schmitz's "Space Fear".
Last modified 2022-10-06 12:47:34
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.