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.
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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.]
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   1. To keep in safety; to watch; to guard; formerly, in a
      specific sense, to guard during the day time.
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            Whose gates he found fast shut, no living wight
            To ward the same.                     --Spenser.
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   2. To defend; to protect.
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            Tell him it was a hand that warded him
            From thousand dangers.                --Shak.
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   3. To defend by walls, fortifications, etc. [Obs.]
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   4. To fend off; to repel; to turn aside, as anything
      mischievous that approaches; -- usually followed by off.
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            Now wards a felling blow, now strikes again.
                                                  --Daniel.
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            The pointed javelin warded off his rage. --Addison.
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            It instructs the scholar in the various methods of
            warding off the force of objections.  --I. Watts.
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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.
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            Still, when she slept, he kept both watch and ward.
                                                  --Spenser.
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   2. One who, or that which, guards; garrison; defender;
      protector; means of guarding; defense; protection.
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            For the best ward of mine honor.      --Shak.
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            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.
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   3. The state of being under guard or guardianship;
      confinement under guard; the condition of a child under a
      guardian; custody.
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            And he put them in ward in the house of the captain
            of the guard.                         --Gen. xl. 3.
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            I must attend his majesty's command, to whom I am
            now in ward.                          --Shak.
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            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.
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   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.
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   5. One who, or that which, is guarded. Specifically:
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      (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.
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      (b) A division of a county. [Eng. & Scot.]
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      (c) A division, district, or quarter of a town or city.
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                Throughout the trembling city placed a guard,
                Dealing an equal share to every ward. --Dryden.
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      (d) A division of a forest. [Eng.]
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      (e) A division of a hospital; as, a fever ward.
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   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.
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                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.
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   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.]
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Ward \Ward\, v. i.
   1. To be vigilant; to keep guard.
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   2. To act on the defensive with a weapon.
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            She redoubling her blows drove the stranger to no
            other shift than to ward and go back. --Sir P.
                                                  Sidney.
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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]