a volunteer part-time military force recruited for the defence of the United Kingdom in World War II
(in various countries) a civil defence and reserve militia organization
First recorded in 1735–45
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Among the professional troops taking part in this exercise are members of Norway's home guard - mostly part-time soldiers.
From BBC • Mar. 11, 2024
He said two of the dead were members of the home guard, a voluntary force that helps police control civil disturbances.
From Reuters • Aug. 1, 2023
The London Daily Telegraph credited Raymond Sackler with serving in the United Kingdom’s home guard, including as a plane spotter in World War II.
From Washington Post • Jul. 21, 2017
Along with his mate, Robson Greene, he enlists in the home guard.
From The Guardian • Sep. 18, 2010
By time I came along, most everybody in Banks County thought General Tweedy had been a high monkity-monk in the Army of the Confederacy instead of just in the home guard.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
