SAFEGUARD

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does safeguard mean? 

• SAFEGUARD (noun)
  The noun SAFEGUARD has 2 senses:

1. a precautionary measure warding off impending danger or damage or injury etc.

2. a document or escort providing safe passage through a region especially in time of war

  Familiarity information: SAFEGUARD used as a noun is rare.

• SAFEGUARD (verb)
  The verb SAFEGUARD has 2 senses:

1. make safe

2. escort safely

  Familiarity information: SAFEGUARD used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SAFEGUARD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A precautionary measure warding off impending danger or damage or injury etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

guard; precaution; safeguard

Context example:

we let our guard down

Hypernyms ("safeguard" is a kind of...):

measure; step (any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "safeguard"):

backstop (a precaution in case of an emergency)

security; security measures (measures taken as a precaution against theft or espionage or sabotage etc.)

Derivation:

safeguard (make safe)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A document or escort providing safe passage through a region especially in time of war

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

safe-conduct; safeguard

Hypernyms ("safeguard" is a kind of...):

pass; passport (any authorization to pass or go somewhere)

Derivation:

safeguard (escort safely)

• SAFEGUARD (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they safeguard    ... he / she / it safeguards   
Past simple: safeguarded   
Past participle: safeguarded   
-ing form: safeguarding   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make safe

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "safeguard" is one way to...):

protect (shield from danger, injury, destruction, or damage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

safeguard (a precautionary measure warding off impending danger or damage or injury etc.)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Escort safely

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "safeguard" is one way to...):

escort (accompany as an escort)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

safeguard (a document or escort providing safe passage through a region especially in time of war)

 Context examples 

When she saw Jorindel she was very angry, and screamed with rage; but she could not come within two yards of him, for the flower he held in his hand was his safeguard.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

An organization that works to safeguard patients through effective mediation assuring access to care, maintenance of employment and preservation of their financial stability.

(Patient Advocacy Group, NCI Thesaurus)

Rest assured of this, that if all else fail I have always a safeguard here—drawing a small silver-hilted poniard from her bosom—which sets me beyond the fear of these vile and blood-stained wretches.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A counteraction, gentle and continual, is the best safeguard of manners and conduct.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might take in the future.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Institutional Review Boards check to see that the trial is well designed, legal, ethical, does not involve unneccesary risks, and includes safeguards for patients.

(Institutional Review Board, NCI Dictionary)

But the Professor was fenced round with safeguards so cunningly devised that, do what I would, it seemed impossible to get evidence which would convict in a court of law.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

By midday my husband and I were on our way to London, but not before he had given our benefactor full warning of this danger, and had also left such information for the police as would safeguard his life for the future.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She was born to overcome an affection formed so late in life as at seventeen, and with no sentiment superior to strong esteem and lively friendship, voluntarily to give her hand to another!—and THAT other, a man who had suffered no less than herself under the event of a former attachment, whom, two years before, she had considered too old to be married,—and who still sought the constitutional safeguard of a flannel waistcoat!

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)