lifeguard

English

a lifeguard on duty at a beach

the lifeguard (circled) on a High Speed Train powercar

Alternative forms

• life-guard (dated)

Etymology

From life +‎ guard, calque of Dutch lijfgarde, where life has the sense of Dutch lijf (“body”) (hence literally “bodyguard”). Compare German Leibgarde (“bodyguard”), Danish livgarde (“bodyguard”), Swedish livgarde (“bodyguard”). Compare also Old English līfweard (“guardian of life”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪfˌɡɑɹd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

lifeguard (plural lifeguards)

1. A lifesaver: a rescuer, usually an expert swimmer, employed to save swimmers in trouble or near drowning at a body of water.
   • 2025 February, Rick Lane, “Review: Planet Coaster 2”, in PC Gamer (US)‎^[1], number 392, page 67; published online 1 November 2024:

     It's also generally wise to recruit lifeguards to ensure visitor safety, as bathers can panic in the water and require assistance.

2. (uncommon) A bodyguard or unit of bodyguards, a guard of someone's (especially a king's) life or person.
   • 1776, The London Magazine, Or, Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer:

     "The people's love is the king's lifeguard."

   • 1843, Edward Hyde, The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, page 553:

     [I]n the reserve were the king's lifeguard, commanded by the earl of Lindsey, and prince Rupert's regiment of foot[.]

   • 2012, Charles Oman, A History of the Art of War: The Middle Ages:

     Constantine the Great is known to have raised the five scholae of horsemen who formed the actual lifeguard of the prince, and followed his person whenever he went out to war.

3. (rail transport) A sturdy metal bracket fixed in front of each of the leading wheels of a train to deflect small objects away from the wheels to prevent derailment.
   • 2022 March 23, Philip Haigh, “Network News: Driver of ScotRail HST had only seconds to react, says RAIB”, in RAIL, number 953, page 11:

     It also looked at what effect stronger lifeguards might have had. They protect the leading wheels from small obstacles and in modern trains have coped with hitting landslip debris.

Derived terms

• lifeguarded
• lifeguarding

Translations

lifesaver, expert swimmer rescuer

• Arabic: مُنْقِذ m (munqiḏ)

  South Levantine Arabic: منقذ m (múnqez) (Palestine)

• Armenian: փրկարար (hy) (pʻrkarar)
• Basque: sorosle
• Bulgarian: спасител (bg) m (spasitel)
• Catalan: socorrista m or f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 救生員 / 救生员 (zh) (jiùshēngyuán)

• Czech: plavčík (cs) m
• Danish: redningssvømmer c, livredder (da) c
• Dutch: badmeester (nl) m, strandmeester, reddingszwemmer
• Esperanto: savgardisto
• Estonian: vetelpäästja
• Finnish: uimavalvoja (fi)
• French: maître-nageur (fr) m, maître-nageuse (fr) f, sauveteur (fr) m, nageur-sauveteur (fr) m
• Galician: socorrista (gl) m or f
• German: Rettungsschwimmer (de) m, Rettungsschwimmerin (de) f, Strandwächter m, Strandwächterin f, Bademeister (de) m, Bademeisterin (de) f, Lebensretter (de) m
• Greek: ναυαγοσώστης (el) m (navagosóstis), ναυαγοσώστρια (el) f (navagosóstria)
• Hebrew: מציל (he) m (matzil)
• Irish: garda tarrthála m
• Italian: bagnino (it)
• Malagasy: mpanavotra (mg)
• Māori: manapou moana
• Norwegian: livredder m
• Polish: ratownik (pl) m
• Portuguese: salva-vidas (pt) m, nadador-salvador (pt) m
• Romanian: salvamar (ro) m
• Russian: спаса́тель (ru) m (spasátelʹ), спаса́тельница (ru) f (spasátelʹnica) (professional), спаси́тель (ru) m (spasítelʹ), спаси́тельница (ru) f (spasítelʹnica)
• Serbo-Croatian: spasilac (sh) m
• Slovak: plavčík m, plavčíčka f, záchranár m, záchranárka f
• Spanish: socorrista (es) m or f, guardavidas (es) m or f, bañero (es) m, salvavidas (es) m or f
• Swedish: badvakt (sv) c
• Turkish: cankurtaran (tr)
• Ukrainian: рятува́льник m (rjatuválʹnyk), рятува́льниця f (rjatuválʹnycja)

bodyguard — see bodyguard

rail transport: metal bracket to deflect small objects

• German: Schienenräumer m, Bahnräumer m
• Spanish: salvavidas (es) m