guard
[gahrd]
| 1. | to keep safe from harm or danger; protect; watch over: to guard the ruler. |
| 2. | to keep under close watch in order to prevent escape, misconduct, etc.: to guard a prisoner. |
| 3. | to keep under control or restraint as a matter of caution or prudence: to guard one's temper. |
| 4. | to provide or equip with some safeguard or protective appliance, as to prevent loss, injury, etc. |
| 5. | Sports. to position oneself so as to obstruct or impede the movement or progress of (an opponent on offense): The linebacker moved to his right to guard the end going out for a pass. |
| 6. | Chess. to protect (a piece or a square) by placing a piece in a supportive or defensive position relative to it. |
| 7. | to take precautions (usually fol. by against): to guard against errors. |
| 8. | to give protection; keep watch; be watchful. |
| 9. | a person or group of persons that guards, protects, or keeps a protective or restraining watch. |
| 10. | a person who keeps watch over prisoners or others under restraint. |
| 11. | a body of people, esp. soldiers, charged with guarding a place from disturbance, theft, fire, etc. |
| 12. | a close watch, as over a prisoner or other person under restraint: to be kept under guard. |
| 13. | a device, appliance, or attachment that prevents injury, loss, etc. |
| 14. | something intended or serving to guard or protect; safeguard: insurance as a guard against disasters. |
| 15. | a posture of defense or readiness, as in fencing, boxing, or bayonet drill. |
| 16. | Football.
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| 17. | Basketball. either of the players stationed in the backcourt. |
| 18. | Chess. a piece that supports or defends another. |
| 19. | Cards. a low card that is held with a high card of the same suit and that enables the holder to save the high card for a later trick. |
| 20. | British. a railroad conductor. |
| 21. | Guards, the name of certain bodies of troops in the British army. |
| 22. | off guard, unprepared; unwary: The blow from behind caught him off guard. Also, off one's guard. |
| 23. | on guard, vigilant; wary: on guard against dishonest merchants. Also, on one's guard. |
| 24. | stand guard over, to watch over; protect: The dog stood guard over his wounded master. |
1375–1425; late ME garde guardianship < OF g(u)arde, n. deriv. of g(u)arder (v.) < Gmc; see ward

Related forms:
1. shield, shelter, safeguard; preserve, save. See defend. 3. hold, watch. 9. defender, protector; watchman, guardian; guardsman, sentry, sentinel, patrol. 14. defense, protection, aegis, security, safety; bulwark, shield.
1. attack.
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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guard (gärd) v. guard·ed, guard·ing, guards v. tr.
[Middle English garden, from Old French garder, guarder, of Germanic origin; see wer-3 in Indo-European roots.] guard'er n. |
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Guard
Guard\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Guarded; p. pr. &, vb. n. Gurding.] [OF. guarder, garder, warder, F. garder, fr. OHG. wart?n to be on the watch, await, G. marten. See Ward, v. & n., and cf. Guard, n.]1. To protect from danger; to secure against surprise, attack, or injury; to keep in safety; to defend; to shelter; to shield from surprise or attack; to protect by attendance; to accompany for protection; to care for. For Heaven still guards the right. --Shak. 2. To keep watch over, in order to prevent escape or restrain from acts of violence, or the like. 3. To protect the edge of, esp. with an ornamental border; hence, to face or ornament with lists, laces, etc. The body of your discourse it sometime guarded with fragments, and the guards are but slightly basted on neither. --Shak. 4. To fasten by binding; to gird. [Obs.] --B. Jonson. Syn: To defend, protect, shield; keep; watch.Guard
Guard\ (g[aum]rd), v. i. To watch by way of caution or defense; to be caution; to be in a state or position of defense or safety; as, careful persons guard against mistakes.Guard
Guard\, n. [OF. guarde, F. garde; of German origin; cf. OHG. wart, marto, one who watches, mata a watching, Goth. wardja watchman. See Guard, v. t.]1. One who, or that which, guards from injury, danger, exposure, or attack; defense; protection. His greatness was no guard to bar heaven's shaft. --Shak. 2. A man, or body of men, stationed to protect or control a person or position; a watch; a sentinel. The guard which kept the door of the king's house. --Kings xiv. 27. 3. One who has charge of a mail coach or a railway train; a conductor. [Eng.] 4. Any fixture or attachment designed to protect or secure against injury, soiling, or defacement, theft or loss; as: (a) That part of a sword hilt which protects the hand. (b) Ornamental lace or hem protecting the edge of a garment. (c) A chain or cord for fastening a watch to one's person or dress. (d) A fence or rail to prevent falling from the deck of a vessel. (e) An extension of the deck of a vessel beyond the hull; esp., in side-wheel steam vessels, the framework of strong timbers, which curves out on each side beyond the paddle wheel, and protects it and the shaft against collision. (f) A plate of metal, beneath the stock, or the lock frame, of a gun or pistol, having a loop, called a bow, to protect the trigger. (g) (Bookbinding) An interleaved strip at the back, as in a scrap book, to guard against its breaking when filled. 5. A posture of defense in fencing, and in bayonet and saber exercise. 6. An expression or admission intended to secure against objections or censure. They have expressed themselves with as few guards and restrictions as I. --Atterbury. 7. Watch; heed; care; attention; as, to keep guard. 8. (Zo["o]l.) The fibrous sheath which covers the phragmacone of the Belemnites. Note: Guard is often used adjectively or in combination; as, guard boat or guardboat; guardroom or guard room; guard duty. Advanced guard, Coast guard, etc. See under Advanced, Coast, etc. Grand guard (Mil.), one of the posts of the second line belonging to a system of advance posts of an army. --Mahan. Guard boat. (a) A boat appointed to row the rounds among ships of war in a harbor, to see that their officers keep a good lookout. (b) A boat used by harbor authorities to enforce the observance of quarantine regulations. Guard cells (Bot.), the bordering cells of stomates; they are crescent-shaped and contain chlorophyll. Guard chamber, a guardroom. Guard detail (Mil.), men from a company regiment etc., detailed for guard duty. Guard duty (Mil.), the duty of watching patrolling, etc., performed by a sentinel or sentinels. Guard lock (Engin.), a tide lock at the mouth of a dock or basin. Guard of honor (Mil.), a guard appointed to receive or to accompany eminent persons. Guard rail (Railroads), a rail placed on the inside of a main rail, on bridges, at switches, etc., as a safeguard against derailment. Guard ship, a war vessel appointed to superintend the marine affairs in a harbor, and also, in the English service, to receive seamen till they can be distributed among their respective ships. Life guard (Mil.), a body of select troops attending the person of a prince or high officer. Off one's guard, in a careless state; inattentive; unsuspicious of danger. On guard, serving in the capacity of a guard; doing duty as a guard or sentinel; watching. On one's guard, in a watchful state; alert; vigilant. To mount guard (Mil.), to go on duty as a guard or sentinel. To run the guard, to pass the watch or sentinel without leave. Syn: Defense; shield; protection; safeguard; convoy; escort; care; attention; watch; heed.Cite This Source
guard (n.)
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guard programming
1. In functional programming, a Boolean expression attached to a function definition specifying when (for what arguments) that definition is appropriate.
2. In (parallel) logic programming, a Boolean expression which is used to select a clause from several alternative matching clauses.
See Guarded Horn Clauses.
3. In parallel languages, a Boolean expression which specifies when an message may be sent or received.
(1995-05-09)
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Guard
(1.) Heb. tabbah (properly a "cook," and in a secondary sense "executioner," because this office fell to the lot of the cook in Eastern countries), the bodyguard of the kings of Egypt (Gen. 37:36) and Babylon (2 Kings 25:8; Jer. 40:1; Dan. 2:14). (2.) Heb. rats, properly a "courier," one whose office was to run before the king's chariot (2 Sam. 15:1; 1 Kings 1:5). The couriers were also military guards (1 Sam. 22:17; 2 Kings 10:25). They were probably the same who under David were called Pelethites (1 Kings 14:27; 2 Sam. 15:1). (3.) Heb. mishmereth, one who watches (Neh. 4:22), or a watch-station (7:3; 12:9; Job 7:12). In the New Testament (Mark 6:27) the Authorized Version renders the Greek _spekulator_ by "executioner," earlier English versions by "hangman," the Revised Version by "soldier of his guard." The word properly means a "pikeman" or "halberdier," of whom the bodyguard of kings and princes was composed. In Matt. 27:65, 66; 28:11, the Authorized Version renders the Greek _kustodia_ by "watch," and the Revised Version by "guard," the Roman guard, which consisted of four soldiers, who were relieved every three hours (Acts 12:4). The "captain of the guard" mentioned Acts 28:16 was the commander of the Praetorian troops, whose duty it was to receive and take charge of all prisoners from the provinces.
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guard
see off guard; stand guard.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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