rear guard
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of rear guard
1475–85; < Anglo-French reregard, Old French rereguarde
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.
Europe’s public considered the artist, a bourgeois son of a Normandy notary, to be the rear guard of the avant-garde.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
"The approved rear guard repair eliminates the potential for entrapment near the rear roller of the treadmill," the safety regulator said in a statement.
From Reuters ● May 18, 2023
In private WhatsApp messages with a special adviser, he said he had to take "rear guard action" to ensure schools did not open, while the then-education secretary was battling to keep children in school.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2023
But they appeared to be the rear guard of an army in retreat.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 26, 2021
Then came the Old Bear with the main force, Ser Mallador Locke with the baggage train and packhorses, and finally Ser Ottyn Wythe rs and the rear guard.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
