Definitions for: Ward


[n] a division of a prison (usually consisting of several cells)
[n] 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"
[n] a district into which a city or town is divided for the purpose of administration and elections
[n] a person who is under the protection or in the custody of another
[n] United States businessman who in 1872 established a successful mail-order business (1843-1913)
[n] English writer of novels who was an active opponent of the women's suffrage movement (1851-1920)
[n] English economist and conservationist (1914-1981)
[v] watch over or shield from danger or harm; protect; "guard my possessions while I'm away"



Webster (1913) Definition: -ward (w[~e]rd), -wards -wards (w[~e]rdz). [AS.
-weard, -weardes; akin to OS. & OFries. -ward. OHG. -wert, G.
-w["a]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.


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.

Still, when she slept, he kept both watch and ward.
--Spenser.

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

For the best ward of mine honor. --Shak.

The assieged castle's ward Their steadfast stands
did mightily maintain. --Spenser.

For want of other ward, He lifted up his hand, his
front to guard. --Dryden.

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

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

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

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.

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.

5. One who, or that which, is guarded. Specifically:
(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.
(b) A division of a county. [Eng. & Scot.]
(c) A division, district, or quarter of a town or city.

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

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.

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.



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.]


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.]
1. To keep in safety; to watch; to guard; formerly, in a
specific sense, to guard during the day time.

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

2. To defend; to protect.

Tell him it was a hand that warded him From thousand
dangers. --Shak.

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

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

Now wards a felling blow, now strikes again.
--Daniel.

The pointed javelin warded off his rage. --Addison.

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


Ward, v. i.
1. To be vigilant; to keep guard.

2. To act on the defensive with a weapon.

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

Synonyms: Asron Montgomery Ward, Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, cellblock, guard, hospital ward, Mary Augusta Arnold Ward, Montgomery Ward, Mrs. Humphrey Ward

See Also: administrative district, administrative division, author, block, businessman, cell, conservationist, death house, death row, detox, economic expert, economist, environmentalist, hospital, human, individual, infirmary, jail cell, man of affairs, mortal, municipality, person, prison, prison cell, prison house, protect, shepherd, somebody, someone, soul, territorial division, writer

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