ward (wôrd)
n.

1. A division of a city or town, especially an electoral district, for administrative and representative purposes.
2. A district of some English and Scottish counties corresponding roughly to the hundred or the wapentake.
3. 1. A room in a hospital usually holding six or more patients.
   2. A division in a hospital for the care of a particular group of patients: a maternity ward.
4. One of the divisions of a penal institution, such as a prison.
5. An open court or area of a castle or fortification enclosed by walls.
6. 1. Law. A minor or incompetent person placed under the care or protection of a guardian or court.
   2. A person under the protection or care of another.
7. The state of being under guard; custody.
8. The act of guarding or protecting; guardianship.
9. A means of protection; a defense.
10. A defensive movement or attitude, especially in fencing; a guard.
11. 1. The projecting ridge of a lock or keyhole that prevents the turning of a key other than the proper one.
    2. The notch cut into a key that corresponds to such a ridge.

tr.v., ward·ed, ward·ing, wards.
To guard; protect.

phrasal verb:

ward off

1. To turn aside; parry: ward off an opponent's blows.
2. To try to prevent; avert: took vitamins to ward off head colds.

[Middle English, action of guarding, from Old English weard, a watching, protection.]

---

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

---