off your guard


verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
to take precautions (usually followed by against ): to guard against errors.
to give protection; keep watch; be watchful.
a person who keeps watch over prisoners or others under restraint.
either of the linemen stationed between a tackle and the center.
the position played by this lineman.
Basketball. either of the players stationed in the backcourt.
Chess. a piece that supports or defends another.
British. a railroad conductor.
Guards, the name of certain bodies of troops in the British army.
off guard, unprepared; unwary: The blow from behind caught him off guard. Also, off one's guard.
on guard, vigilant; wary: on guard against dishonest merchants. Also, on one's guard.
stand guard over, to watch over; protect: The dog stood guard over his wounded master.

1375–1425; late Middle English garde guardianship < Old French g(u)arde, noun derivative of g(u)arder (v.) < Germanic; see ward

guardable, adjective
guarder, noun
guardless, adjective
guardlike, adjective
preguard, verb (used with object)
self-guard, noun
underguard, noun
unguardable, adjective

1. shield, shelter, safeguard; preserve, save. See defend. 3. hold, watch. 9. defender, protector; watchman, guardian; guardsman, sentry, sentinel, patrol. 14. defense, protection, aegis, security, safety; bulwark, shield.

1. attack. Unabridged
Cite This Source Link To off your guard
World English Dictionary
guard (ɡɑːd)
vb (usually foll by against)
1.  to watch over or shield (a person or thing) from danger or harm; protect
2.  to keep watch over (a prisoner or other potentially dangerous person or thing), as to prevent escape
3.  (tr) to control: to guard one's tongue
4.  to take precautions
5.  to control entrance and exit through (a gate, door, etc)
6.  (tr) to provide (machinery, etc) with a device to protect the operator
7.  (tr)
 a.  chess, cards to protect or cover (a chess man or card) with another
 b.  curling, bowls to protect or cover (a stone or bowl) by placing one's own stone or bowl between it and another player
8.  archaic (tr) to accompany as a guard
9.  a person or group who keeps a protecting, supervising, or restraining watch or control over people, such as prisoners, things, etcRelated: custodial
10.  a person or group of people, such as soldiers, who form a ceremonial escort: guard of honour
11.  (Brit) the official in charge of a train
12.  a.  the act or duty of protecting, restraining, or supervising
 b.  (as modifier): guard duty
13.  (Irish) another word for garda
14.  a device, part, or attachment on an object, such as a weapon or machine tool, designed to protect the user against injury, as on the hilt of a sword or the trigger of a firearm
15.  anything that provides or is intended to provide protection: a guard against infection
16.  a.  another name for safety chain
 b.  a long neck chain often holding a chatelaine
17.  See guard ring
18.  sport an article of light tough material worn to protect any of various parts of the body
19.  basketball
 a.  the position of the two players in a team who play furthest from the basket
 b.  a player in this position
20.  the posture of defence or readiness in fencing, boxing, cricket, etc
21.  cricket take guard (of a batsman) to choose a position in front of the wicket to receive the bowling, esp by requesting the umpire to indicate his position relative to the stumps
22.  cricket give guard (of an umpire) to indicate such a position to a batsman
23.  off one's guard having one's defences down; unprepared
24.  on one's guard prepared to face danger, difficulties, etc
25.  stand guard (of a military sentry, etc) to keep watch
26.  mount guard
 a.  (of a sentry) to begin to keep watch
 b.  (with over) to take up a protective or defensive stance (over something)
Related: custodial
[C15: from Old French garde, from garder to protect, of Germanic origin; compare Spanish guardar; see ward]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

early 15c., "one who keeps watch," from M.Fr. garde "guardian, warden, keeper," from garder "to guard," from O.Fr. guarder (corresponding to O.N.Fr. warder, see gu-), from Frank. *wardon, from P.Gmc. *wardo- (see ward (v.)). Abstract or collective
sense of "a keeping, a custody" (as in bodyguard) is from early 15c. Sword-play and boxing sense is from 1590s. The verb is first recorded 1580s, from the noun. Guarded "reserved and cautious in speech, behavior, etc." is from 1728. Guardian (early 14c.) is from Anglo-Fr. gardein, from O.Fr. gardien, earlier guarden, from Frankish *warding-.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Bible Dictionary

Guard definition

(1.) Heb. tabbah (properly a "cook," and in a secondary sense "executioner," because this office fell to the lot of the cook in Eastern countries), the bodyguard of the kings of Egypt (Gen. 37:36) and Babylon (2 Kings 25:8; Jer. 40:1; Dan. 2:14). (2.) Heb. rats, properly a "courier," one whose office was to run before the king's chariot (2 Sam. 15:1; 1 Kings 1:5). The couriers were also military guards (1 Sam. 22:17; 2 Kings 10:25). They were probably the same who under David were called Pelethites (1 Kings 14:27; 2 Sam. 15:1). (3.) Heb. mishmereth, one who watches (Neh. 4:22), or a watch-station (7:3; 12:9; Job 7:12). In the New Testament (Mark 6:27) the Authorized Version renders the Greek _spekulator_ by "executioner," earlier English versions by "hangman," the Revised Version by "soldier of his guard." The word properly means a "pikeman" or "halberdier," of whom the bodyguard of kings and princes was composed. In Matt. 27:65, 66; 28:11, the Authorized Version renders the Greek _kustodia_ by "watch," and the Revised Version by "guard," the Roman guard, which consisted of four soldiers, who were relieved every three hours (Acts 12:4). The "captain of the guard" mentioned Acts 28:16 was the commander of the Praetorian troops, whose duty it was to receive and take charge of all prisoners from the provinces.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2014, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature