{
    "term": "guard",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "a person, such as a soldier, a police officer or a prison officer, who protects a place or people, or prevents prisoners from escaping",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "**prison/border guards**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The building is protected by **armed guards**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The prisoner slipped past the guards on the gate and escaped."
                },
                {
                    "text": "A guard was posted outside the building."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Guards had been posted all around the TV studio."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Guards patrolled the perimeter fence."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The border guard checked our papers before waving us through."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["War and conflict", "Crime and punishment", "Jobs"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["armed", "uniformed", "border"],
                "verb + guard": ["post", "station"],
                "guard + verb": [
                    "patrol something",
                    "protect something",
                    "escort somebody"
                ],
                "guard + noun": ["duty", "dog"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "the act or duty of protecting property, places or people from attack or danger; the act or duty of preventing prisoners from escaping",
            "sensetop": "on guardunder guard",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a sentry on guard *(= at his or her post, on duty)*",
                    "contextForm": "on guard"
                },
                {
                    "text": "to be **on guard duty**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The escaped prisoner was brought back under **armed guard**.",
                    "contextForm": "under guard"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The terrorist was kept under police guard."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Two sentries stood on guard."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The suspects were kept under police guard."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He fell asleep on guard duty."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He was doing guard duty at the entrance to the embassy."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Would you like me to keep guard of your room?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Two police officers kept guard over the burned-out building."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The prisoners were under close guard."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The accused was taken to court under armed guard."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Soldiers stood guard on the city gates."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Several police officers were on guard outside the factory."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He arrived under heavy guard."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Danger", "War and conflict"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["close", "24-hour", "constant"],
                "preposition": ["off (your) guard", "on (your) guard", "under guard"],
                "phrases": [
                    "drop your guard",
                    "keep guard of something",
                    "keep your guard up"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "a group of people, such as soldiers or police officers, who protect somebody/something",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "the captain of the guard"
                },
                {
                    "text": "the changing of the guard *(= when one group replaces another)*"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The guard is/are being inspected today."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Fellow airmen provided a **guard of honour** at his wedding."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The president always travels with an **armed guard**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Fellow soldiers from Corporal Smith's regiment formed a guard of honour at his wedding."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The guard was changed every two hours."
                },
                {
                    "text": "A group of tourists was watching the changing of the guard outside the palace."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It would only be a matter of minutes before the alarm was raised and the guard called out."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The coffin was accompanied by a guard of honour."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["War and conflict"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["civil", "national", "palace"],
                "verb + guard": ["change", "call out"],
                "phrases": ["guard of honour/​honor"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "(in the UK and some other countries) special regiments of soldiers whose original duty was to protect the king or queen",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "the Scots Guards"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a Guards officer"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["War and conflict"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["civil", "national", "palace"],
                "verb + guard": ["change", "call out"],
                "phrases": ["guard of honour/​honor"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "something that covers a part of a person’s body or a dangerous part of a machine to prevent injury",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "All players wear helmets and face guards."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Ensure the guard is in place before operating the machine."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["trigger", "fire", "shin"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 6,
            "definition": "conductor (= a person who is in charge of a train and travels with it, but does not drive it)",
            "labels": "(British English, becoming old-fashioned)",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [],
            "topics": ["Transport by bus and train"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 7,
            "definition": "a position you take to defend yourself, especially in a sport such as boxing or fencing",
            "labels": "(figurative)",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "to drop/keep up your guard"
                },
                {
                    "text": "In spite of the awkward questions the minister never let his guard fall for a moment."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Matt relaxed a little, dropping his guard."
                },
                {
                    "text": "No one can keep their guard up all the time."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Sports: other sports"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 8,
            "definition": "one of the two players on a basketball team who are mainly responsible for staying close to players of the other team to stop them from scoring",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [],
            "topics": ["Sports: ball and racket sports"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 9,
            "definition": "one of the two players on an American football team who play either side of the centre forward",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [],
            "topics": ["Sports: ball and racket sports"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to be very careful and prepared for something difficult or dangerous",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He was always on his guard against moneymaking schemes."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Danger"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to stop being careful and preparing yourself for possible danger or difficulty",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "You can never drop your guard with a two-year-old."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Even when he's winning, he never drops his guard."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to watch or protect somebody/something",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Four soldiers stood guard over the coffin."
                },
                {
                    "text": "One of the men kept guard, while the other broke into the house."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "not careful or prepared for something difficult or dangerous",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The lawyer’s apparently innocent question was designed to **catch** the witness **off (his) guard**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He caught me completely off guard."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The question seemed to catch him off his guard."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Danger"]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ɡɑːd/",
                "audio": "gu/guard/guard__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ɡɑːrd/",
                "audio": "gu/guard/guard__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English (in the sense ‘care, custody’): from Old French garde (noun), garder (verb), of West Germanic origin. Compare with ward."
}