Coast Guard

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noun

U.S. Military. a military service under the Department of Transportation, which in peacetime enforces maritime laws, saves lives and property at sea, and maintains aids to navigation, and which in wartime may be placed under the Navy Department to augment the navy.

(lowercase) any similar organization for aiding navigation, preventing smuggling, etc.

(lowercase)Also called coastguardsman. a member of any such organization.

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Origin of Coast Guard

First recorded in 1825–35

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use Coast Guard in a sentence

“We might be seen or heard by some passing coastguard man,” observed old Jem.
Digby Heathcote|W.H.G. Kingston
"I must say you seem to be pretty hard and fast ashore in mighty sloppy water," commented the coastguard captain.
Blow The Man Down|Holman Day
Meeting the ocean westward of Harlyn is Trevose Head, with its lighthouse and coastguard station.
The Cornwall Coast|Arthur L. Salmon
But this did not suit the corporal who, being a coastguard, had no sympathy with cutting down the pay of the army.
Castellinaria|Henry Festing Jones

I did not know before that coastguard corporals, like musical scales and Hebrew prophets, could be either major or minor.
Castellinaria|Henry Festing Jones

British Dictionary definitions for Coast Guard

coastguard

/ (ˈkəʊstˌɡɑːd) /

noun

a maritime force which aids shipping, saves lives at sea, prevents smuggling, etc

Also called: coastguardsman a member of such a force

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012