26984 words

guard

22 definitions • 31 examples
1
a person or group of people whose job is to protect a person, place, or thing from danger or attack, or to prevent a person such as a criminal from escaping:

Examples:

post a guard There are guards posted (= standing and watching) at every entrance.
prison guard Prison guards managed to prevent more than 50 prisoners from escaping.
armed guard Armed guards are posted around the site.
2
to be kept in a place by a group of people who have weapons:

Examples:

be under armed guard The ex-president was under armed guard in the palace.
3
to be responsible for protecting someone or something, or for preventing someone from escaping:

Examples:

keep guard over Two of the soldiers kept guard over the captured guns.
4
a ceremony in which a group of soldiers replaces the soldiers who have finished their time on duty standing outside an important public building, such as a palace (= a building where a king or queen lives):

Examples:

the changing of the guard The band played the national anthem during the changing of the guard.
5
a time when a new person or group starts to be in control of a society, organization, etc. with the result that there are a lot of changes:

Examples:

His resignation as Secretary of State marks the beginning of a changing of the guard in Washington.
6
a railway official who travels on and is responsible for a train
7
a device that protects a dangerous part of something or that protects something from getting damaged:

Examples:

a fire guard
a trigger guard
The helmet has a face guard attached.
8
in basketball, one of the two positions taken by players who are especially skilful and good at shooting:

Examples:

The 5'8" guard became the first Japanese player in the NBA.
9
in American football, a player who plays next to the centre and tries to stop players from the opposing team reaching his quarterback (= the player who directs play):

Examples:

left guard Williams started nine games at left guard.
right guard Right guard Thomas is expected to be out two to four weeks with a hamstring strain.
offensive guard He played offensive guard for the university team.
10
in boxing and other fighting sports, a position in which you hold your arms up to protect yourself from hits from the opposing fighter:

Examples:

drop your guard A more skilled boxer can evade him, pound his ribs to slow him down, and make him drop his guard.
let your guard down In the seventh round, Moore let his guard down and was floored.
11
in curling (= a sport played on ice in which stones are slid towards a target), a stone that is slid into a position where it can protect the team's other stones from being hit:

Examples:

guard stone The GB team puts a guard stone up, but Norway bashes it away.
12
to protect someone or something from being attacked or stolen:

Examples:

Soldiers guard the main doors of the embassy.
13
to watch someone and make certain they do not escape from a place:

Examples:

14
to keep information secret:

Examples:

jealously guard Journalists jealously (= carefully) guard their sources of information.
15
in sports such as American football and basketball, to prevent a member of the opposing team from taking control of the ball by staying close to them all the time:

Examples:

Who is your most challenging player to guard?
16
informal for
17
a person or group of people whose job it is to protect a person, place, or thing from danger or attack, or to prevent a person such as a criminal from escaping:

Examples:

Armed guards were posted at every exit.
18
In sports, a guard is a player who supports and defends other players of his or her team.
19
a piece of equipment that protects the user of a machine from being injured by a sharp or dangerous part on the machine:

Examples:

Make sure that the safety guard is in position before using the cutting machine.
20
a person or group of people whose job is to protect a person, place or thing, or to prevent a person, such as a criminal, from escaping:

Examples:

a night guard at a bank
21
to be careful to avoid being tricked or getting into a dangerous situation:

Examples:

Stores must always be on their guard against credit card fraud.
22
to protect something from being known, found, harmed, or taken:

Examples:

The California-based company is aggressively guarding its secret technology.
guard (sth) against sth The firewall guards the computer against viruses or other harmful programs.

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