potsherd

1. (often archaeology) A piece of ceramic from pottery, often found on an archaeological site.Examples: "But this madde Amalecke, / Lyke to a Mamelek, / He regardeth lordes / No more than potshordes; […]"; "[W]ho can deny but that the rod of Gods mouth is indeed Virga virtutis, a rod of strength, an iron rod, able to deale with all humane reaſonings, as a hammer with a potſherd, which though to the hand of a man it may feele as hard as a rocke, yet is too brittle to endure the blow of an iron rod?"; "Job took a potſherd to ſcrape himself, becauſe his hands were as full of boils as his body: This is the caſe of thy corrupt ſoul: not to be recovered but by Jeſus Chriſ, whoſe ſtrength was dried up like a potſherd, Pſal[ms] xxii. 15."Synonyms: shard, sherdoften