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(wrd), -wards (wrdz)}. [AS. -weard, -weardes; akin to OS. & OFries. -ward. OHG. -wert, G. -wrts, Icel. -verr, Goth. -vars, L. vertere to turn, versus toward, and E. worth to become. 143. See Worth. v. i., and cf. Verse. Adverbs ending in -wards (AS. -weardes) and some other adverbs, such as besides, betimes, since (OE. sithens). etc., were originally genitive forms used adverbially.] Suffixes denoting course or direction to; motion or tendency toward; as in backward, or backwards; toward, or towards, etc. Ward (), n.[AS. weard, fem., guard, weard, masc., keeper, guard; akin to OS. ward a watcher, warden, G. wart, OHG. wart, Icel. vrr a warden, a watch, Goth. -wards in darawards a doorkeeper, and E. wary; cf. OF. warde guard, from the German. See Ware, a., Wary, and cf. Guard, Wraith.] 1. The act of guarding; watch; guard; guardianship; specifically, a guarding during the day. See the Note under Watch, n., 1. Still, when she slept, he kept both watch and ward. Spenser. 2. One who, or that which, guards; garrison; defender; protector; means of guarding; defense; protection. For the best ward of mine honor. Shak. The assieged castle's ward Their steadfast stands did mightily maintain. Spenser. For want of other ward, He lifted up his hand, his front to guard. Dryden. 3. The state of being under guard or guardianship; confinement under guard; the condition of a child under a guardian; custody. And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard. Gen Ward (), v. t.[imp. & p. p.Warded; p. pr. & vb. n.Warding.] [OE. wardien, AS. weardian to keep, protect; akin to OS. wardn to watch, take care, OFries. wardia, OHG. wartn, G. warten to wait, wait on, attend to, Icel. vara to guarantee defend, Sw. vrda to guard, to watch; cf. OF. warder, of German origin. See Ward, n., and cf. Award, Guard, Reward.] 1. To keep in safety; to watch; to guard; formerly, in a specific sense, to guard during the day time. Whose gates he found fast shut, no living wight To ward the same. Spenser. 2. To defend; to protect. Tell him it was a hand that warded him From thousand dangers. Shak. 3. To defend by walls, fortifications, etc. [Obs.] 4. To fend off; to repel; to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches; -- usually followed by off. Now wards a felling blow, now strikes again. Daniel. The pointed javelin warded off his rage. Addison. It instructs the scholar in the various methods of warding off the force of o Ward v. i. 1. To be vigilant; to keep guard. 2. To act on the defensive with a weapon. She redoubling her blows drove the stranger to no other shift than to ward and go back. Sir P. Sidney. スポンサード リンク
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