ward

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: hospital wardWardBarbara WardBaroness Jackson of LodsworthMrs. Humphrey WardMary Augusta Arnold WardMontgomery WardAaron Montgomery Wardcellblockguard

WordNet 3.0

Noun (7)

  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”Synonyms: hospital ward
  4. English economist and conservationist (1914-1981)Synonyms: WardBarbara WardBaroness Jackson of Lodsworth
  5. English writer of novels who was an active opponent of the women's suffrage movement (1851-1920)Synonyms: WardMrs. Humphrey WardMary Augusta Arnold Ward
  6. United States businessman who in 1872 established a successful mail-order business (1843-1913)Synonyms: WardMontgomery WardAaron Montgomery Ward
  7. a division of a prison (usually consisting of several cells)Synonyms: cellblock

Verb (1)

  1. watch over or shield from danger or harm; protect“guard my possessions while I'm away”Synonyms: guard
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

-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]
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.[1913 Webster]
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]
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.[1913 Webster]
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]

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]
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