guard

English

Etymology

For verb: From Old French guarder (“to keep, ward, guard, save, preserve, etc.”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish *wardōn (from Proto-Germanic *wardo-), cognate with Old English weardian (from which English to ward). Compare French garde.

For noun: From Middle English garde, from Old French guarde (“a guardian, warden, keeper”), from the verb.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ɡɑːd/
• (US) IPA: /ɡɑɹd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(r)d

Noun

guard (plural guards)

1. a person (or thing) who protects or watches over something
2. (military) A squad responsible for protecting something.

   The president inspected the guard of honour.

3. a part of a machine which blocks access to dangerous parts
4. (Australian) panel of a car which encloses the wheel area, especially the front wheels.
5. (basketball) A relatively short player, playing farther from the basket than a forward or center.
6. (cricket) The position on the popping crease where a batsman makes a mark to align himself with the wicket (see to take guard)
7. (American football) The offensive positions between the center and each of the offensive tackles. The main responsibilities of the guard is to protect the quarterback, and open up "holes" through which offensive players can run. There are two guards on the field at once.
8. (sports) A player playing a position named guard
9. (railways) An employee who normally travels in the last vehicle of a train and is responsible for the safety of the train

Synonyms

• (Part of machine blocking dangerous parts): protection

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun guard

bodyguard changing of the guard crossing guard guard dog

guardian lifeguard mudguard off guard

on guard rear guard safeguard vanguard

Expressions

• To be on one's guard

Translations

Person who protects something

Armenian: պահակ (hy) (pahak), պահապան (hy) (pahapan) Catalan: guarda, guàrdia Chamorro: a'adahi (ch) Chinese: Mandarin: 衛兵 (zh), 卫兵 (zh) (wèibīng) Croatian: čuvar (hr) m., stražar (hr) m. Czech: stráž (cs) f. Danish: vagt (da), livvagt (da) Dutch: wacht (nl) m., bewaker (nl) m.,lijfwacht (nl) Finnish: vartija (fi) French: garde (fr) m. and f. German: Wächter (de) m. Greek: φύλακας (el) (fýlakas) m., φρουρός (el) (frourós) m., σκοπός (el) (skopós) m. Ancient: σκοπός (grc) m., φύλαξ (grc) m. Hebrew: מִשְׁמָר (he) שׁוֹמֵר (he) (míshmôr, shómær)

Hungarian: őr (hu) Icelandic: vörður (is) m. Irish: garda (ga) m. Japanese: 監視者 (ja) (かんししゃ, kanshisha) Polish: strażnik (pl) m. Portuguese: guarda (pt) Romanian: gardă (ro), paznic (ro) m., gardian (ro) m., păzitor (ro) m. Russian: стражник (ru) (strážnik) m. old use, страж (ru) (stráž) m., охранник (ru) (oxránnik), сторож (ru) (stórož) m., конвоир (ru) (konvoír) m., часовой (ru) (časovój) m., караульный (ru) (karaúl’nyj) m. Scottish Gaelic: freiceadan (gd) m., geàrd (gd) m. Slovene: stražar m singular, straža f. pl. Spanish: guarda (es) m. and f., guardia (es) m. and f. Swahili: askari (sw), mlinzi (sw), walinzi (sw) pl. Swedish: vakt (sv) c.

a group protecting something

Czech: stráž (cs) f. French: garde (fr) f. Greek: φρουρά (el) (frourá) f. Latvian: sardze (lv) f.

Romanian: gardă (ro) f., pază (ro) f., apărare (ro) f. Russian: стража (ru) (stráža) f., охрана (ru) (oxrána) f. Scottish Gaelic: freiceadan (gd) m.

Part of machine blocking dangerous parts

Danish: skærm (da), afskærmning (da) French: garde (fr) f., protection (fr) f. German: Schutz (de) m.

Romanian: protecție (ro) f., apăratoare (ro) f. Russian: кожух (ru) (kožúx) m., предохранитель (ru) (predoxranítel’) m.

Player in sports in general

French: gardien (fr) m., arrière (fr) m. and f., défense (fr) f.

Slovene: branilec (sl) m.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Italian: protezione f. Portuguese: protetor m.

Verb

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

1. To protect from some offence (specific or abstract.)

Translations

To protect from some offence

Ancient Greek: φυλάττω Arabic: حرس (ar) (Harasa) Azeri: qorumaq (az) Chinese: Mandarin: 守衛 (cmn), 守卫 (cmn) (shǒuwèi), 守 (cmn) (shǒu), 保守 (cmn) (bǎoshǒu) Czech: střežit (cs) Danish: bevogte (da), holde vagt (da) Dutch: bewaken (nl) Esperanto: gardi (eo) Finnish: vartioida (fi), suojata (fi) French: garder (fr) German: schützen (de)

Greek: φρουρώ (el), περιφρουρώ (el), προστατεύω (el), φυλάσσω (el) Hebrew: שָׁמַר (he) (shômar) Italian: custodire (it) Japanese: 守る (ja) (mamoru) Latin: teneo (la), defendo (la), custodio (la) Old English: weardian (ang) Portuguese: guardar (pt) Romanian: feri (ro), proteja (ro), păzi (ro) Russian: беречь (ru) (beréč'), охранять (ru) (oxranját'), сторожить (ru) (storožít'), караулить (ru) (karaúlit') Spanish: vigilar (es) Swedish: vakta (sv), bevaka (sv) Yiddish: היטן (yi) (hitn)

External links

• guard in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• guard in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

• Darug