guard

English

/ɡɑːd/, /ɡɑɹd/

noun
Definitions
  • A person who, or thing that, protects or watches over something.
  • (Ireland) A garda; a police officer.
  • (military) A squad responsible for protecting something.
  • The part of a sword that protects the wielder's hand.
  • A part of a machine which blocks access to dangerous parts.
  • A watchchain.
  • (Australia) A panel of a car that encloses the wheel area, especially the front wheels.
  • (uncountable) A state of caution; posture of defence.
  • Something worn to protect part of the body, e.g. the shins in cricket.
  • (basketball) A relatively short player, playing farther from the basket than a forward or center.
  • (cricket) The position on the popping crease where a batsman makes a mark to align himself with the wicket; see take guard.
  • (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.
  • (sports) A player playing a position named guard.
  • (rail) An employee, normally travelling in the last vehicle of a train, responsible for the safety of the train.
  • (computing) A Boolean expression that must evaluate to true for a branch of program execution to continue.

Etymology

Derived from Frankish *wardōn, *wardēn (protect, guard, keep) derived from Proto-Germanic *wardāną (protect, guard) inherited from Middle English garde derived from Old French guarde (warden, keeper, a guardian) root from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (heed, cover, defend, protect, burn, close, save, bend, turn, guard, rope, squirrel, envelop, boil, crook, notice, give heed, string, watch, speak, note, high, twist, perceive, tie, sense, blister, bond, blacken, shut, be wary, shelter, bind with a rope, highland, sketch an outline, become aware, take heed, stoat, make, cut, look out for, raised area, be aware, be watchful, tear, pay attention, scratch, observe, tuber, lump, work, be careful).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*wer-

Gloss

heed, cover, defend, protect, burn, close, save, bend, turn, guard, rope, squirrel, envelop, boil, crook, notice, give heed, string, watch, speak, note, high, twist, perceive, tie, sense, blister, bond, blacken, shut, be wary, shelter, bind with a rope, highland, sketch an outline, become aware, take heed, stoat, make, cut, look out for, raised area, be aware, be watchful, tear, pay attention, scratch, observe, tuber, lump, work, be careful

Concept
Semantic Field

Basic actions and technology

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

弦

Emoji
🤭 📔

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms