safeguard
noun
something that serves as a protection or defense or that ensures safety.
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There must be an end now of this silent reserve, of that air of impenetrability behind which he had been safeguarding his dignity.
From Nostromo, a Tale of the Seaboard by Joseph Conrad