safeguard
Americannoun
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safeguards
plural
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something that serves as a protection or defense or that ensures safety.
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a permit for safe passage.
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a guard or convoy.
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a mechanical device for ensuring safety.
verb (used with object)
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safeguards,
present (3rd person singular)
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safeguarded,
past participle, past
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safeguarding
present participle
noun
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a person or thing that ensures protection against danger, damage, injury, etc
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a document authorizing safe-conduct
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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safeguardsimple
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safeguardssimple
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have safeguardedperfect
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has safeguardedperfect
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am safeguardingprogressive
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are safeguardingprogressive
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is safeguardingprogressive
-
have been safeguardingperfect progressive
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has been safeguardingperfect progressive
Past
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safeguardedsimple
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had safeguardedperfect
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was safeguardingprogressive
-
were safeguardingprogressive
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had been safeguardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of safeguard
1325–75; Middle English savegarde (noun) safe conduct < Middle French salvegarde, sauvegarde. See safe, guard
Explanation
A safeguard is a defense or precaution. You could describe a flu shot as a safeguard against getting sick, for example. Safeguards protect against something negative, whether it's an attacking army invading a country or a boy you don't like much asking you to the prom. A store's security system is a safeguard against theft, and a secret password is a safeguard against your sister reading your email. You can use it as a verb too: "We clearly need to safeguard our Halloween candy so Mom and Dad don't steal it after we go to bed."
Vocabulary lists containing safeguard
Declaration of the Rights of Woman (1791)
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Herbert Hoover on "Rugged Individualism" (1928)
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A Single Shard
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Passing assets to later generations often triggers conflict, but proactive bonding, fair ownership structures and open communication can safeguard your legacy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
"This FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service will continue to safeguard the public and secure elections for American citizens," the agencies said in a statement on Thursday.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
“No nation, even one as capable and confident as ours, can safeguard them alone,” said Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi’s oil giant ARAMCO.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
SAL said it has a responsibility to safeguard both the singer’s legacy and the people involved in maintaining it.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
If the Capitol wanted to safeguard them, they’d be down in a bunker somewhere.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
The force said lessons had been learned, procedures changed and additional safeguards introduced for victims of police-perpetrated abuse.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Netflix said it isn’t responsible for the loss of a film delivered without industry-standard safeguards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, was ordered by a New Mexico judge on Wednesday to pay $25 billion for misleading users about how it collects and safeguards user data.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called for stronger AI safeguards, but cybersecurity stocks showed little reaction Monday.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
This time, I let go of the inhibitions, the safeguards I’ve taught myself to always hold up.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
It also warned that the route was no longer safeguarded through the planning system.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
"The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
The family said it hoped a PFD report would lead to "meaningful changes" in how disciplinary processes are conducted and how employees' welfare is safeguarded.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
These kinds of investigations hint at a larger reality in the Ecuadorean province, where modern life bends around an ecosystem so fiercely safeguarded that wildlife effectively holds legal right of way.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
There are fossils to be safeguarded, ancient manuscripts; there are pearls, gold nuggets, a sapphire as big as a mouse.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
"We stand by the ICC and its officials, and we are committed to safeguarding its work," said Yannis Maniatis, a lawmaker with the centre-left S&D group, which backed the ICC nomination.
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026
What’s more, they have to think about safeguarding against piracy or terrorism if businesses are handling nuclear fuel across international waters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
It means anti-Jewish hatred will be treated as a specific safeguarding risk rather than being dealt with through existing measures to stop racism and bullying.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
He said his agency is “committed to safeguarding America’s cutting-edge intellectual property from foreign threats.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
But her main accomplishment may have been inadvertently to keep new ideas about Amazonian history from the public eye—ideas about its past that may, according to their advocates, play a role in safeguarding its future.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
