The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

-ward \-ward\ (w[~e]rd), -wards \-wards\ (w[~e]rdz). [AS.
   -weard, -weardes; akin to OS. & OFries. -ward. OHG. -wert, G.
   -w[aum]rts, Icel. -ver[eth]r, Goth. -va['i]r[thorn]s, L.
   vertere to turn, versus toward, and E. worth to become.
   [root]143. See Worth. v. i., and cf. Verse. Adverbs
   ending in -wards (AS. -weardes) and some other adverbs, such
   as besides, betimes, since (OE. sithens). etc., were
   originally genitive forms used adverbially.]
   Suffixes denoting course or direction to; motion or tendency
   toward; as in backward, or backwards; toward, or towards,
   etc.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Ward \Ward\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Warded; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Warding.] [OE. wardien, AS. weardian to keep, protect; akin
   to OS. ward?n to watch, take care, OFries. wardia, OHG.
   wart?n, G. warten to wait, wait on, attend to, Icel. var?a to
   guarantee defend, Sw. v[*a]rda to guard, to watch; cf. OF.
   warder, of German origin. See Ward, n., and cf. Award,
   Guard, Reward.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. To keep in safety; to watch; to guard; formerly, in a
      specific sense, to guard during the day time.
      [1913 Webster]

            Whose gates he found fast shut, no living wight
            To ward the same.                     --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To defend; to protect.
      [1913 Webster]

            Tell him it was a hand that warded him
            From thousand dangers.                --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To defend by walls, fortifications, etc. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To fend off; to repel; to turn aside, as anything
      mischievous that approaches; -- usually followed by off.
      [1913 Webster]

            Now wards a felling blow, now strikes again.
                                                  --Daniel.
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            The pointed javelin warded off his rage. --Addison.
      [1913 Webster]

            It instructs the scholar in the various methods of
            warding off the force of objections.  --I. Watts.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Ward \Ward\, n. [AS. weard, fem., guard, weard, masc., keeper,
   guard; akin to OS. ward a watcher, warden, G. wart, OHG.
   wart, Icel. v["o]r[eth]r a warden, a watch, Goth. -wards in
   da['u]rawards a doorkeeper, and E. wary; cf. OF. warde guard,
   from the German. See Ware, a., Wary, and cf. Guard,
   Wraith.]
   1. The act of guarding; watch; guard; guardianship;
      specifically, a guarding during the day. See the Note
      under Watch, n., 1.
      [1913 Webster]

            Still, when she slept, he kept both watch and ward.
                                                  --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. One who, or that which, guards; garrison; defender;
      protector; means of guarding; defense; protection.
      [1913 Webster]

            For the best ward of mine honor.      --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            The assieged castle's ward
            Their steadfast stands did mightily maintain.
                                                  --Spenser.
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            For want of other ward,
            He lifted up his hand, his front to guard. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. The state of being under guard or guardianship;
      confinement under guard; the condition of a child under a
      guardian; custody.
      [1913 Webster]

            And he put them in ward in the house of the captain
            of the guard.                         --Gen. xl. 3.
      [1913 Webster]

            I must attend his majesty's command, to whom I am
            now in ward.                          --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            It is also inconvenient, in Ireland, that the wards
            and marriages of gentlemen's children should be in
            the disposal of any of those lords.   --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A guarding or defensive motion or position, as in fencing;
      guard. "Thou knowest my old ward; here I lay, and thus I
      bore my point." --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. One who, or that which, is guarded. Specifically:
      [1913 Webster]
      (a) A minor or person under the care of a guardian; as, a
          ward in chancery. "You know our father's ward, the
          fair Monimia." --Otway.
          [1913 Webster]
      (b) A division of a county. [Eng. & Scot.]
          [1913 Webster]
      (c) A division, district, or quarter of a town or city.
          [1913 Webster]

                Throughout the trembling city placed a guard,
                Dealing an equal share to every ward. --Dryden.
          [1913 Webster]
      (d) A division of a forest. [Eng.]
          [1913 Webster]
      (e) A division of a hospital; as, a fever ward.
          [1913 Webster]

   6.
      (a) A projecting ridge of metal in the interior of a lock,
          to prevent the use of any key which has not a
          corresponding notch for passing it.
      (b) A notch or slit in a key corresponding to a ridge in
          the lock which it fits; a ward notch. --Knight.
          [1913 Webster]

                The lock is made . . . more secure by attaching
                wards to the front, as well as to the back,
                plate of the lock, in which case the key must be
                furnished with corresponding notches.
                                                  --Tomlinson.
          [1913 Webster]
          [1913 Webster]

   Ward penny (O. Eng. Law), money paid to the sheriff or
      castellan for watching and warding a castle.

   Ward staff, a constable's or watchman's staff. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Ward \Ward\, v. i.
   1. To be vigilant; to keep guard.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To act on the defensive with a weapon.
      [1913 Webster]

            She redoubling her blows drove the stranger to no
            other shift than to ward and go back. --Sir P.
                                                  Sidney.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

ward
    n 1: a person who is under the protection or in the custody of
         another
    2: a district into which a city or town is divided for the
       purpose of administration and elections
    3: block forming a division of a hospital (or a suite of rooms)
       shared by patients who need a similar kind of care; "they put
       her in a 4-bed ward" [syn: ward, hospital ward]
    4: English economist and conservationist (1914-1981) [syn:
       Ward, Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth]
    5: English writer of novels who was an active opponent of the
       women's suffrage movement (1851-1920) [syn: Ward, Mrs.
       Humphrey Ward, Mary Augusta Arnold Ward]
    6: United States businessman who in 1872 established a
       successful mail-order business (1843-1913) [syn: Ward,
       Montgomery Ward, Aaron Montgomery Ward]
    7: a division of a prison (usually consisting of several cells)
       [syn: cellblock, ward]
    v 1: watch over or shield from danger or harm; protect; "guard
         my possessions while I'm away" [syn: guard, ward]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

240 Moby Thesaurus words for "ward":
   Kreis, VA hospital, X ray, acropolis, administration, aegis,
   archbishopric, archdiocese, armament, armor, arrondissement,
   asylum, auspices, avert, avoidance reaction, bailiwick, balk,
   base hospital, bastion, beachhead, bishopric, block, blockhouse,
   blood bank, borough, bridgehead, bunker, canton, care, castle,
   charge, charity ward, check, citadel, city, client, clinic,
   close borough, commune, community hospital, congressional district,
   constablewick, consultation room, convalescent home,
   convalescent hospital, county, cure, custodianship, custody,
   defence, defense, defense in depth, defense mechanism, defenses,
   deflect, delivery room, departement, dependent, deter,
   deterrent capacity, diocese, dispensary, district, divert, donjon,
   duchy, ego defenses, election district, electoral district,
   electorate, emergency, encumbrance, escape mechanism,
   evacuation hospital, examining room, fasthold, fastness, fend,
   fever ward, field hospital, foil, forestall, fort, fortress,
   frustrate, garrison, garrison house, general hospital, gerrymander,
   gerrymandered district, governance, government, guard,
   guardianship, guarding, guidance, halt, hamlet, hands, hold, home,
   hospital, hospital room, hundred, infirmary, inpatient clinic,
   intensive care, interrupt, isolation, jurisdiction, keep, keeping,
   labor room, laboratory, lookout, magistracy, maison de sante,
   management, martello, martello tower, maternity ward,
   mental hospital, metropolis, metropolitan area, ministry, mote,
   motte, negative taxis, nursery, nursing home, oblast, obviate,
   okrug, operating room, osteopathic hospital, outpatient clinic,
   oversight, parish, parry, pastorage, pastorate, pastorship,
   patronage, peel, peel tower, pensionary, pensioner, pharmacy,
   picket, pillbox, pocket borough, policlinic, polyclinic, post,
   precinct, preclude, preventive custody, principality, prison ward,
   private hospital, private room, proprietary hospital, protection,
   protective custody, protectorship, protege, province,
   psychological defenses, public charge, public hospital, rath,
   recovery room, region, resistance, rest home, riding,
   rotten borough, rule out, safe district, safe hands, safeguard,
   safehold, safekeeping, sanatorium, security, self-defense,
   self-preservation, self-protection, semi-private room, sentinel,
   sentry, sheriffalty, sheriffwick, shield, shire, shrievalty,
   sick bay, sickbed, sickroom, silk-stocking district,
   single-member district, soke, special hospital, stake, state,
   station hospital, stave off, stay, stewardship, strong point,
   stronghold, stymie, surgery, surgical hospital, swing district,
   teaching hospital, territory, the defensive, therapy, thwart,
   tower, tower of strength, town, township, treatment room, trust,
   turn, turn aside, tutelage, veterans hospital, village,
   voluntary hospital, wapentake, wardenship, wardship, watch,
   watch and ward, watchman, well-baby clinic, wing



Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Ward
   a prison (Gen. 40:3, 4); a watch-station (Isa. 21:8); a guard
   (Neh. 13:30).


Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

WARD, domestic relations. An infant placed by authority of law under the
care of a guardian.
     2. While under the care of a guardian a ward can make no contract
whatever binding upon him, except for necessaries. When the relation of
guardian and ward ceases, the latter is entitled to have an account of the
administration of his estate from the former. During the existence of this
relation, the ward is under the subjection of his guardian, who stands in
loco parentis.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

WARD, a district. Most cities are divided for various purposes into
districts, each of which is called a ward.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

WARD, police. To watch in the day time, for the purpose of preventing
violations of the law.
     2. It is the duty of all police officers and constables to keep ward in
their respective districts.



U.S. Gazetteer Counties (2000):

Ward -- U.S. County in North Dakota
   Population (2000):    58795
   Housing Units (2000): 25097
   Land area (2000):     2012.883559 sq. miles (5213.344262 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    43.363629 sq. miles (112.311278 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    2056.247188 sq. miles (5325.655540 sq. km)
   Located within:       North Dakota (ND), FIPS 38
   Location:             48.255894 N, 101.488391 W
   Headwords:
    Ward
    Ward, ND
    Ward County
    Ward County, ND


U.S. Gazetteer Counties (2000):

Ward -- U.S. County in Texas
   Population (2000):    10909
   Housing Units (2000): 4832
   Land area (2000):     835.492247 sq. miles (2163.914893 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.252109 sq. miles (0.652960 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    835.744356 sq. miles (2164.567853 sq. km)
   Located within:       Texas (TX), FIPS 48
   Location:             31.517740 N, 103.016977 W
   Headwords:
    Ward
    Ward, TX
    Ward County
    Ward County, TX


U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):

Ward, AR -- U.S. city in Arkansas
   Population (2000):    2580
   Housing Units (2000): 1075
   Land area (2000):     3.894989 sq. miles (10.087974 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    3.894989 sq. miles (10.087974 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            73130
   Located within:       Arkansas (AR), FIPS 05
   Location:             35.019996 N, 91.954987 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):     72176
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Ward, AR
    Ward


U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):

Ward, CO -- U.S. town in Colorado
   Population (2000):    169
   Housing Units (2000): 82
   Land area (2000):     0.569241 sq. miles (1.474328 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    0.569241 sq. miles (1.474328 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            82735
   Located within:       Colorado (CO), FIPS 08
   Location:             40.072347 N, 105.510131 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):     80481
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Ward, CO
    Ward


U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):

Ward, SC -- U.S. town in South Carolina
   Population (2000):    110
   Housing Units (2000): 62
   Land area (2000):     0.778374 sq. miles (2.015980 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    0.778374 sq. miles (2.015980 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            74590
   Located within:       South Carolina (SC), FIPS 45
   Location:             33.857891 N, 81.732286 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):     29166
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Ward, SC
    Ward


U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):

Ward, SD -- U.S. town in South Dakota
   Population (2000):    41
   Housing Units (2000): 22
   Land area (2000):     0.284691 sq. miles (0.737345 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    0.284691 sq. miles (0.737345 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            68660
   Located within:       South Dakota (SD), FIPS 46
   Location:             44.154239 N, 96.461131 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):     57074
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Ward, SD
    Ward