GUARD, v.t. gard. [L. verus; wahren, to keep, to last, to hold out; bewahren, to keep or preserve; bewahren, to verify, to confirm; Eng. ware, aware;]

1. Defense; preservation or security against injury, loss or attack.
2. That which secures against attack or injury; that which defends. Modesty is the guard of innocence.
3. A man or body of men occupied in preserving a person or place from attack or injury; he or they whose business is to defend, or to prevent attack or surprise. Kings have their guards to secure their persons. Joseph was sold to Potiphar, a captain of Pharaoh's guard.
4. A state of caution or vigilance; or the act of observing what passes in order to prevent surprise or attack; care; attention; watch; heed. Be on your guard. Temerity puts a man off his guard.
5. That which secures against objections or censure; caution of expression. They have expressed themselves with as few guards and restrictions as I. Atterbury.
6. Part of the hilt of a sword, which protects the hand.
7. In fencing, a posture of defense.
8. An ornamental lace, hem or border. [Obs.]
9. The railing of the promenade deck of a steamer, intended to secure persons from falling overboard. Advanced guard, or Van guard, in military affairs, a body of troops, either horse or foot, that march before an army or division, to prevent surprise, or give notice of danger. Rear guard, a body of troops that march in the rear of army or division, for its protection. Life guard, a body of select troops, whose duty is to defend the person of a prince or other officer.

To watch by way of caution or defense; to be cautious; to be in a state of defense or safety. Guard against mistakes, or against temptations.

1. To secure against injury, loss or attack; to protect; to defend; to keep in safety. We guard a city by walls and forts. A harbor is guarded by ships, booms or batteries. Innocence should be guarded by prudence and piety. Let observation and experience guard us against temptations to vice.
2. To secure against objections or the attacks of malevolence. Homer has guarded every circumstance with caution. Broome.
3. To accompany and protect; to accompany for protection; as, to guard a general on a journey; to guard the baggage of an army.
4. To adorn with lists, laces or ornaments. [Obs.] Shak.
5. To gird; to fasten by binding. B. Jonson.

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 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.
3. 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.

4. To keep watch over, in order to prevent escape or restrain from acts of violence, or the like.
5. 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.

6. 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.

7. One who has charge of a mail coach or a railway train; a conductor.
   
   
   [Eng.]
8. To fasten by binding; to gird.
   
   
   [Obs.] B. Jonson.

   Syn. -- To defend, protect, shield; keep; watch.

9. Any fixture or attachment designed to protect or secure against injury, soiling, or defacement, theft or loss
   
   
   ; as: (a)
10. A posture of defense in fencing, and in bayonet and saber exercise.
11. An expression or admission intended to secure against objections or censure.
    
    

    They have expressed themselves with as few guards and restrictions as I. Atterbury.

12. Watch; heed; care; attention; as, to keep guard.
13. The fibrous sheath which covers the phragmacone of the Belemnites.
    
    

    * 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.