Ward v.¹

Forms: 1 weardian, -iʓan, 2 wærdien, 3 wardie, 3–4 wardi, wardy(e, 6 Sc. vard(e, vayrd, 6–7 Sc. waird, 3–7 warde, 4– ward. Also 7 pa. t. ward (rare). [OE. weardian = OFris. wardia, OS. wardon (MDu. waerden, MLG. warden), OHG. wartên (MHG., mod.G. warten), ON. varða:—OTeut. *warðōjan, -ǣjan, f. *warðō: see WARD sb.² The Eng. verb may in some of its uses have been influenced by OF. warder (north-eastern) = Central OF. guarder (mod.F. garder), Pr. gardar, Sp., Pg. guardar, It. guardare, a Com. Rom. adoption of the Teut. word.]

  1.  trans. To guard, stand guard over; to keep in safety, take care of; to defend, protect. (For to watch and ward, see WATCH v.) Obsolescent or arch.

  In OE. sometimes const. genitive.

a. 1035[?].  Cnut’s Secular Laws, lxxvi. (Liebermann). Ac þære cæʓean heo sceal weardian.

a. 1122.  O. E. Chron. (Laud), an. 1087. Þa Englisce men be wærdedon þære sæ.

13[?].  K. Alis., 7324 (Laud MS.). [They] ben so warded al aboute Þat hem ne stondeþ none doute.

13[?].  Leg. Gregory (Schulz), 980. To help and ward Cristendom.

1382.  Wyclif, Matt. xxvii. 66. Thei goynge forth kepten, [gloss] or wardiden, the sepulcre.

1475.  Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.), 27. For golde,… conquerithe not ennemies, nother in time of pease wardithe the peple to be in rest.

1592.  Kyd, Sp. Trag., II. iv. 40. Hor. But first my lookes shall combat against thine. Bel. Then ward thy selfe: I dart this kisse at thee.

1594.  Shaks., Rich. III., V. iii. 254. Then if you fight against Gods Enemy, God will in iustice ward you as his Soldiers.

c. 1613.  Middleton, No Wit like Woman’s, V. i. 145. I found the door Warded suspiciously.

1631.  Weever, Anc. Funeral Mon., 704. On the farther side … the Britaines warded the bankes.

1893.  Stevenson, Catriona, viii. 87. Hope Park, a beautiful pleasance,… warded by a keeper.

1913.  Neil Munro, in Blackw. Mag., Dec., 787/1. Your wits must ward your head.

  b.  To defend, protect from. Now arch.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 174. Bisecheð ʓeorne God … þet he wite & wardie ou urom alle þeo þet ou awaiteð.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 970. Hii wolde … Wardi hom fram alle men, þat hom ne tidde no drede.

13[?].  Sir Beues, 2946. Min em, þe bischop Florentin,… Schel þe warde fro damage.

1475.  Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.), 77. Youre roiaume forto warde, kepe, And defende frome youre adversaries.

1565.  Stapleton, trans. Bede’s Hist., III. xix. 95. The other two [angels] warding him on eche side from the danger of the fire also.

1588.  Shaks., Tit. A., III. i. 195. Tell him, it was a hand that warded him From thousand dangers.

1604.  T. Wright, Passions, VI. 318. Abraham … was constrayned to warde his offring from the molestfull crowes.

a. 1677.  Barrow, Serm., vii. Wks. 1687, I. 90. No better can any man ward himself from blame, by imputing the neglect of devotion to some indisposition within him thereto.

1850.  Blackie, Æschylus, I. 185. Loxias himself will ward His holiest shrine from lawless outrage.

  c.  fig. To guard, keep carefully (a secret). rare.

1881.  Duffield, Don Quixote, II. 442. ‘My profession,’ answered the priest, ‘which obliges me to ward a secret.’

  † d.  intr. (absol.) To keep guard. Often with watch. (For to watch and ward, see WATCH v.) Obs.

1390.  Gower, Conf., II. 304. And in this hous to loke and warde Was Minotaurus put in warde.

c. 1450.  Holland, Houlate, 619. Baith to walk and to ward, as watchis in weir.

1569.  J. Hawkins, in Hakluyt’s Voy. (1589), 555. Our men which warded a shore being stricken with soden feare, gaue place, fled, [etc.].

1579–80.  North, Plutarch, Romulus (1595), 24. The Kings souldiers which warded at the gates of the city.

1610.  Holland, Camden’s Brit., I. 107. A garrison … which warding there day and night became lazie with doing nothing.

1722.  De Foe, Plague (1884), 74. The Family … let the … Fellows warding, and watching.

  12.  trans. To rule, govern (a land, people); to administer (an estate); to act as guardian to (a child). Obs.

a. 1000.  Cædmon’s Dan., 665. Nabochodonossor … weardode wide rice.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 643. Þulke time þat samuel þe prophete wardede þat folc of israhel. Ibid., 6453. To þe king of hongri þis seli children tueie He sende uor to norisi, þat he wardede hom wel beye.

13[?].  Guy Warw. (1891), 510. Þemperour haþ made him his steward, To wardi his lond about.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 101. Þanne was þe best bliþe i-nov for þe barnes sake, For he wist it schold be warded wel þanne at þe best.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 345. He … tok this child into his warde, And seide he wolde him kepe and warde.

  † 3.  To man with a garrison; to protect or shield with some work or contrivance; to fortify (a castle). Obs.

1340–70.  Alisaunder, 265. Grim thei were, To warden þeir walles with weies ynow.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. viii. (1495), 114. The lyddes ben warded and kept wyth rowes of heer.

c. 1400.  Parce michi, 194, in 26 Pol. Poems, 148. Castelles and toures, Withoute y-warded with stronge dyches.

1544.  Betham, Precepts War, II. liv. L iij b. Cytis warded with all kyndes of defences.

1633.  T. Stafford, Pac. Hib., III. ix. 321. The Castle of Leam-con neere Crooke haven which the rebels warded, was recovered from them.

  b.  said of the defending work. Obs.

a. 1000.  Ags. Ps. (Th.), ciii. 3. Heofon … þone weardiað ufan wætra ðryðe.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. xxvi. (Bodl. MS.). Þe yȝen defendeþ and wardeþ alle þe forþer parties of þe body.

1555.  Eden, Decades (Arb.), 177. Towarde the west on the Northe syde, great Cuba … wardeth owre Tethys [i.e., Hayti] on the backe halfe.

1579.  Spenser, Sheph. Cal., July, 42. S. Michels Mount who does not know, That wardes the Westerne coste? Ibid. (1596), F. Q., IV. x. 7. And for defence thereof, on th’ other end There reared was a castle faire and strong, That warded all which in or out did wend.

  † 4.  To keep in close custody or confinement; to put in ward, imprison. Chiefly Sc. Obs.

1390.  Gower, Conf., II. 354. A Maiden, which was warded streyte Withinne chambre and kept so clos, That [etc.].

a. 1400[?].  Morte Arth., 1614. That they be weisely wachede and in warde holdene, Wardede of warantizez with wyrchipfulle knyghttez.

c. 1480.  Henryson, Paddock & Mouse, 166 (Bannatyne MS.). Now in fredome, now wardit in distress.

1508.  Reg. Privy Seal Scot., I. 247/1. Dome [was] gevin apoun thair personis to be wardit thairfor.

1581.  N. Burne, in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.), 116, I … vas vayrdit in the Tolbuith of Edinburgh.

1597.  in Maitl. Club Misc., I. 129. The kirk desyris the bailleis to waird him quhill the nixt Sonday, his fude to be bread and wattir allanerlie.

a. 1670.  Spalding, Troub. Chas. I. (Bannatyne Club), I. 220. He was shortly wairded for these words.

  † b.  fig. To keep in close check or control. Obs.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 53. Thin yhe forto kepe and warde, So that it passe noght his warde. Ibid., I. 60. If thou … wisly cowthest warde and kepe Thin yhe and Ere.

1555.  Hooper, in Coverdale, Lett. Martyrs (1564), 158. True confession is warded on euery side, with many daungers.

  5.  With in, off, up: To enclose, hem in, seclude, shut off (esp. for safety or protection). rare.

a. 1586.  Satir. Poems Reform., xxxvii. 37. Walde ȝe ward ȝow vpe betwne tua ways, Ȝit so ȝe sall not frome þair sayingis save ȝou.

c. 1590.  Greene, Fr. Bacon, II. i. 446 (Collins). The Pyren mounts … That ward the welthie Castile in with walles.

1842.  Dickens, Amer. Notes, xi. The machinery not warded off or guarded in any way, but doing its work in the midst of the crowd of idlers … who throng the lower deck.

  6.  To parry, repel, fend off, turn aside (a stroke or thrust, blow, attack, weapon, missile). Now almost always with off.

1571.  Golding, Calvin on Ps. lv. 13. 214. Too put backe a stroke by striking it upward, according as wee say in English I had warded his blowe.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., I. ix. 10. Their God himselfe … Shot many a dart at me with fiers intent, But I them warded all with wary gouernment.

c. 1643.  Ld. Herbert, Autobiog. (1824), 126. All I could well do to those two which remained, was to ward their thrusts.

1652.  Urquhart, Jewel, 137. He for twenty several bouts, did but ward their blows, and pary with the fort of his sword.

1697.  Dryden, Æneis, V. 584. Entellus … with his warping Body wards the Wound.

1732.  Lediard, Sethos, II. ix. 277. He employ’d one part … to ward off the flights of arrows.

1830.  Praed, Poems (1864), I. 352. And now he wards a Roundhead’s pike, and now he hums a stave.

1844.  Mrs. Browning, Romaut of Page, ii. Once in the tent, and twice in the fight, [thou] Didst ward me a mortal blow.

1845.  Darwin, Voy. Nat., ii. (1879), 25. Seeing a great powerful man afraid even to ward off a blow, directed, as he thought, at his face.

1851.  Mayne Reid, Scalp Hunters, lv. Before El Sol could ward it off, the thrust was given, and the weapon appeared to pass through his body.

  fig.  1638.  Featley, Sir H. Lynde’s Case for Spect., Ep. Ded. A 6. Your Lordship in your last … unanswerable masterpiece, held up your buckler over the Knight then living,… and ward off the Iesuits blowes.

a. 1734.  North, Life Ld. Kyr. Guilford (1742), 224. He met sometimes with a Reprimand, which he would wittily ward off.

  b.  absol. or intr. To party blows; to stand on the defensive in a combat. arch.

1393.  Langl., P. Pl., C. XXII. 218. And wepne to fight [v.r. warde] with þat wol neuere faille.

1567.  Maplet, Gr. Forest, III. 101. [The unicorn] in his fight wardeth and foyneth at the Elephant his bellye.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Arcadia, I. xi. § 13. As soone as he spied Palladius, he drew his sword, and … let flie at him. But Palladius … sought rather to retire, and warde.

1591.  Harington, Orl. Fur., Pref. ¶ ij b. As good fensers vse to ward and strike at once.

1592.  Lyly, Midas, IV. ii. A Nation … so valiant, that are redier to strike than ward.

1653.  Holcroft, Procopius, Vandal Wars, II. 38. Solomon … commanded the rest … to stand still, warding with their shields, against the enemies Javelins.

1697.  Dryden, Æneis, V. 575. Yet equal in Success, they ward, they strike.

1820.  Praed, Poems (1864), II. 15. Life is won by ready sword, By strength to strike and skill to ward.

  1.  trans. To avert, keep off (harm, danger, etc.).

  a.  simply.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Arcadia, I. Eclogue (1598), 85. While they did ward sun-beames with shadie bay.

1673.  Lady’s Call., I. iii. § 18. It concerns them therefore to ward those beginnings whose end may be so fatal.

1710.  Philips, Pastorals, ii. 125. Fold Thy Flock with mine, to ward th’injurious Cold.

c. 1750.  Shenstone, Elegy, iii. 13. He little knew to ward the secret wound.

1810.  Scott, Lady of Lake, V. xx. I, only I, can ward their fate.

1850.  Blackie, Æschylus, II. 240. Theirs it is to ward fulfillment of all evil-omened sights.

1882.  Ld. Acton, Lett. to Mary Gladstone, 21 March (1904), 132. Images would probably impress him as a danger to be warded, rather, I think, than Transubstantiation.

  b.  with off. Also (rarely) aside.

1759.  Goldsm., Bee, No. 3. If, then, you would ward off the gripe of poverty, pretend to be a stranger to her. Ibid. (1774), Nat. Hist. (1776), V. 322. Covering their heads at the same time to ward off any danger of the falling of pebbles or stones from above.

1798.  T. Jefferson, Writ. (1859), IV. 241. If we can ward off actual war till the crisis in England is over.

1803.  Edwin, II. xiv. 214. To ward aside the threatened tempest.

1854.  Surtees, Handley Cr., lviii. (1901), II. 129. Rising hills ward off the wintry winds.

1865.  Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. vi. To keep out weather, to ward off cold,… or what not.

1881.  W. H. Day, Dis. Childr., 603. Which may obviate the tendency to congestion, and so ward off the paroxysms when this condition is a factor in the complaint.

  † 8.  intr. To take up a position of defence, take precautions against. Also, to be careful that (something be done). Obs.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 182. Sicnesse þet God sent … wascheð þeo sunnen þet weren er iwrouhte: wardeð to ȝein þeo þet weren touwardes.

c. 1475.  Partenay, 805. Warde that ye be a monday in thys place.

1709.  Prior, Paulo Purganti, 100. Our Don, who knew this Tittle Tattle Did, sure as Trumpet, call to Battel; Thought it extreamly à propos, To ward against the coming Blow.

17[?].  ? Swift, S.’s Wks. (1841), II. 850/2. In England, this pusillanimity is more to be warded against than in most other countries.

1726.  Leoni, Alberti’s Archit., I. 99. Regard must be had … in cold Countries to ward against the bleak Northwind.

1755.  Mem. Capt. P. Drake, Ded. But where is the Necessity of warding against the Imputation of Flattery, when I dedicate to Your Lordship?

  9.  trans. To place (a patient) in a particular ward in a hospital; to lodge (a vagrant) in a ‘casual ward.’ (A new formation on the sb.)

1879.  St. George’s Hosp. Rep., IX. 62. Warded at 2 P.M. next day with the same symptoms.

1889.  Sir D. Duckworth, in Lancet, 5 Jan. She appeared there [sc. at the Hospital] and being very ill … was warded.

1909.  Westm. Gaz., 23 Feb., 12/1. The question as it seemed to these Town Councillors was how to get the vagrants warded, not how to keep them out of the Casual Ward.

  10.  Of a dog: To line or cover (a bitch).

1781.  P. Beckford, Th. Hunting, v. 59. When you breed from a very favourite sort, and can have another bitch warded at the same time, it will be of great service, as you may then save all the puppies.

1826.  J. Cook, Fox-hunting, 11. It is therefore not very probable that one Stallion-hound can ward many bitches besides those of the owner.