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ON GUARD
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Vigilant
Example:
must remain on your guard in such a situation
Synonyms:
on guard; on one's guard; on your guard; upon one's guard
Classified under:
Similar:
wary (marked by keen caution and watchful prudence)
Context examples:
The soldier with the green whiskers was still on guard before the door, but he let them in at once, and they were again met by the beautiful green girl, who showed each of them to their old rooms at once, so they might rest until the Great Oz was ready to receive them.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
The doctor and I will remain on guard, Mr. Pycroft, if you will have the kindness to step out for the police.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He remained on guard in the bedroom where the crime was committed, so as to see that nothing was touched.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Summerlee was on guard, sitting hunched over our small fire, a quaint, angular figure, his rifle across his knees and his pointed, goat-like beard wagging with each weary nod of his head.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
On guard, mon gar.! I have not heard clink of steel this month or more.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
We all pulled round again to Rum Cove, the nearest point for Ben Gunn's treasure-house; and then Gray, single-handed, returned with the gig to the HISPANIOLA, where he was to pass the night on guard.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
At five in the cold winter's morning the bugles were blowing in the hamlet of St. Jean Pied-du-Port, and by six Sir Nigel's Company, three hundred strong, were on their way for the defile, pushing swiftly in the dim light up the steep curving road; for it was the prince's order that they should be the first to pass through, and that they should remain on guard at the further end until the whole army had emerged from the mountains.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Instead of rambling this party had preserved a dignified homogeneity, and assumed to itself the function of representing the staid nobility of the countryside—East Egg condescending to West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
