Free Translator Free Translator
Translators Dictionaries Courses Other
Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Guard duty   /gɑrd dˈuti/   Listen
noun
Guard  n.  
1.
One who, or that which, guards from injury, danger, exposure, or attack; defense; protection. "His greatness was no guard to bar heaven's shaft."
2.
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."
3.
One who has charge of a mail coach or a railway train; a conductor. (Eng.)
4.
Any fixture or attachment designed to protect or secure against injury, soiling, or defacement, theft or loss; as:
(a)
That part of a sword hilt which protects the hand.
(b)
Ornamental lace or hem protecting the edge of a garment.
(c)
A chain or cord for fastening a watch to one's person or dress.
(d)
A fence or rail to prevent falling from the deck of a vessel.
(e)
An extension of the deck of a vessel beyond the hull; esp., in side-wheel steam vessels, the framework of strong timbers, which curves out on each side beyond the paddle wheel, and protects it and the shaft against collision.
(f)
A plate of metal, beneath the stock, or the lock frame, of a gun or pistol, having a loop, called a bow, to protect the trigger.
(g)
(Bookbinding) An interleaved strip at the back, as in a scrap book, to guard against its breaking when filled.
5.
A posture of defense in fencing, and in bayonet and saber exercise.
6.
An expression or admission intended to secure against objections or censure. "They have expressed themselves with as few guards and restrictions as I."
7.
Watch; heed; care; attention; as, to keep guard.
8.
(Zool.) The fibrous sheath which covers the phragmacone of the Belemnites. Note: 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.
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.
Synonyms: Defense; shield; protection; safeguard; convoy; escort; care; attention; watch; heed.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |




"Guard duty" Quotes from Famous Books



... night of this fatal fifteenth of February Dick Welford was detailed for guard duty at the door of General Floyd's tent. He heard their council ...
— The Victim - A romance of the Real Jefferson Davis • Thomas Dixon
... were asked if a guard would be acceptable, and we were only too glad to avail ourselves of such protection. As we were closing the house for the night, after our strenuous day, one of the soldiers on guard duty remarked to me, in a friendly voice: "Now I am going to bed!" In my astonishment I said: "Where?" The smiling response was: "On the porch, to be sure!" In this state of unrest there was no repose for us that night and we did not even attempt to ...
— As I Remember - Recollections of American Society during the Nineteenth Century • Marian Gouverneur
... do the native officers of these three Oude Komukee corps appreciate all the privileges and perquisites they enjoy, when out on duty under district officers, that they consider short periods of guard duty in the city, where they have none of them, ...
— A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude, Volumes I & II • William Sleeman
... Danes could not be trusted and feared that at any time new galleys might be seen bearing down upon the English coast. So he organized his army into several parts and thought out a system by means of which soldiers might always be on guard duty to withstand an invasion, while the rest of the people were peacefully tilling ...
— A Treasury of Heroes and Heroines - A Record of High Endeavour and Strange Adventure from 500 B.C. to 1920 A.D. • Clayton Edwards
... guard duty, and I admit it," Darrin went on, looking sheepish. "Dick, when you found me asleep why didn't you ...
— The High School Boys in Summer Camp • H. Irving Hancock
... Alison; the exact reverse being the case in many other battles, notably Lake Erie. The devices each author adopts to lessen the seeming force of his side are generally of much the same character. For instance, Latour says that 800 of Jackson's men were employed on works at the rear, on guard duty, etc., and deducts them; James, for precisely similar reasons, deducts 853 men: by such means one reduces Jackson's total force to 4,000, and the other gives Packenham but 7,300. Only 2,000 Americans were actually engaged on ...
— The Naval War of 1812 • Theodore Roosevelt
... midnight, when Fred, in accordance with the arrangements, roused Mr. Baxter to take his turn at guard duty, there sounded, off to the rear, long-drawn-out howls. At the sound the sled-dogs raised their muzzles in the air, until they were pointing at the flickering and shifting Northern Lights, and sent ...
— The Young Treasure Hunter - or, Fred Stanley's Trip to Alaska • Frank V. Webster
... much dreaded by inexperienced travellers as the ordeal of guard duty. But no matter what the condition or employment of the individual may be, no one has the slightest chance of evading the common law of the prairies. The amateur tourist and the listless loafer are precisely in the same wholesome predicament—they must all ...
— The Old Santa Fe Trail - The Story of a Great Highway • Henry Inman
... fell on the bitterest night of the year. It was preceded by the rain and was damp and heavy. The soldiers suffered terribly, especially the men on guard duty who had perforce to endure the full blast of the storm. During the earlier hours of the night the girls served all comers with steaming coffee and filled the canteens of the men on guard (free). When they saw how severe the night would be they remained up to keep a supply of coffee ...
— The War Romance of the Salvation Army • Evangeline Booth and Grace Livingston Hill
... adventures with strolling darkies who visited them after they had tied up for the night; and once when a noisy crowd had threatened to do them bodily harm because the boys had declined to make them a present of tobacco and strong drink, both of them had to do guard duty during the night for ...
— The House Boat Boys • St. George Rathborne


Copyright © 2025 Free-Translator.com