guard

• gard, garde, guarde (obsolete)

For verb: From early Middle French or late Old French (circa 14th cent) guarder (“to keep, ward, guard, save, preserve, etc.”), from Frankish *wardōn, from Proto-Germanic *wardāną (“to guard, protect”). Cognate with Old English weardian (whence English to ward). Compare French garder. See also English regard.

For noun: From Middle English garde, from early Middle French or late Old French guarde (“a guardian, warden, keeper”) (whence modern French garde), from the verb guarder. Doublet of garda, which is from Irish.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɡɑːd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɡɑɹd/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)d

guard (plural guards)

1. A person who, or thing that, protects or watches over something.
   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 2, in The Celebrity:

     Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. […] A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.

   The prison guard unlocked the door of the cell.   After completing the repairs, he replaced the sump guard.

2. (Ireland) A garda; a police officer.
   • 2016, Anastasia Dukova, A History of the Dublin Metropolitan Police and its Colonial Legacy, Springer (→ISBN), page 139

     The Garda Regulations 1924 required a candidate for appointment as a guard to be able to produce satisfactory references as to his character

3. (military) A squad responsible for protecting something.

   The president inspected the guard of honour.

4. The part of a sword that protects the wielder's hand
5. A part of a machine which blocks access to dangerous parts.

   The motorcycle mechanic removed the damaged chain guard.

6. (Australia) A panel of a car that encloses the wheel area, especially the front wheels.
   • 1996 December 24, Pendles, “Tyres rubbing on guards”, in aus.cars, Usenet‎:

     Another possible way is to go for a lower profile tyre (50 series). This effectively lowers the distance of the tyre wall away from the guard (not by much though and generally, the lower the profile, the wider the tyre so the tyre may stick out more as well).

   • 1999 November 23, Nathan, “Tyres rubbing on guards”, in aus.cars, Usenet‎:

     The reason I'm asking - Whenever I put some weight in the back of the car (say - a passenger or two) the rear tyres can sometimes hit the guards.

   • 2001 June 12, Confusement, “Position N or D”, in alt.autos, Usenet‎:

     I had just bought myself broken headlights, a f**ked up grill, a front guard bent into my front tyre, a leaky radiator and one *SLIGHTLY* bent chassis rail end. I turned the key on my stalled motor and she kicked over first go - if it weren't for the guard bent into the tyre, I could've driven home later if I wanted to.

7. (uncountable) A state of caution; posture of defence.
8. Something worn to protect part of the body, e.g. the shins in cricket.
9. (basketball) A relatively short player, playing farther from the basket than a forward or center.
10. (cricket) The position on the popping crease where a batsman makes a mark to align himself with the wicket; see take guard.
11. (American football) Either of two offensive positions between the center and each of the offensive tackles, whose main responsibilities are to protect the quarterback, and open up "holes" through which offensive players can run.
12. (sports) A player playing a position named guard.
13. (rail transport) An employee, normally travelling in the last vehicle of a train, responsible for the safety of the train.
    • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1943, Chapter IX, p. 141,

      When an engineer wished to stop a swiftly moving train he had first to whistle to the guard requesting him to apply the hand-brake of the van, and then apply the hand-brake of the engine. Guards did not always hear.

14. (computing, programming) A Boolean expression that must evaluate to true for a branch of program execution to continue.

• (the part of a sword that protects the wielder's hand): quillon
• (part of machine blocking dangerous parts): protection
• (panel of a car enclosing a wheel): fender

guard (third-person singular simple present guards, present participle guarding, simple past and past participle guarded)

1. To protect from danger; to secure against surprise, attack, or injury; to keep in safety; to defend.
   • Shakespeare

     For Heaven still guards the right.

2. To keep watch over, in order to prevent escape or restrain from acts of violence, or the like.

   Guard the prisoner.

3. To watch by way of caution or defense; to be caution; to be in a state or position of defense or safety.

   Careful people guard against mistakes.

4. To protect the edge of, especially with an ornamental border; hence, to face or ornament with lists, laces, etc.
   • Shakespeare

     The body of your discourse is sometime guarded with fragments, and the guards are but slightly basted on neither.

5. To fasten by binding; to gird.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)

• guard one's tongue

• guard in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• guard in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• guard at OneLook Dictionary Search

• Dagur, Darug, Dugar, Durga, draug, durag