lifeguard

American  

[lahyf-gahrd] / ˈlaɪfˌgɑrd /

noun

• lifeguards
  plural

1. an expert swimmer employed, as at a beach or pool, to protect bathers from drowning or other accidents and dangers.

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verb (used without object)

1. to work as a lifeguard.

lifeguard British  

/ ˈlaɪfˌɡɑːd /

noun

1. Also called: life-saver.  a person present at a beach or pool to guard people against the risk of drowning

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lifeguards
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lifeguard

First recorded in 1640–50; life + guard

Explanation

A lifeguard is a person whose job involves watching over swimmers and rescuing them if they're in trouble. You have to do more than just twirl your whistle to be a lifeguard; you'd better be a very good swimmer as well. At the beach and the pool, lifeguards wear swimsuits and carry whistles for catching the attention of rule-breakers, like kids who are dunking each other or jumping into the shallow end. Lifeguards sit perched on high chairs, ready to swim to the aid of someone who's drowning or injured. In the seventeenth century, a lifeguard was a "solider's bodyguard," and by the late 1800s the meaning changed to "watcher of bathers."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lifeguard lifeguards

Always swim near a lifeguard, Stay off rocks and Jetties.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

At a local pool she joined a group of teenagers and received her lifeguard certification.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

The need for a lifeguard is not completely out of the realm of needed resources at the park.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Last weekend, lifeguards in Los Angeles County performed a record 1,950 ocean rescues -- numbers that lifeguard captain Pono Barnes called "staggering."

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

I dragged Stef to the boat with the lifeguard crawl.

From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin

Lifesaving Association warns prospective lifeguards that “a panicked victim, desperate for buoyant support, is a very real threat to an approaching rescuer.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

“This is my job and I love what I do. I’m thankful to my fellow lifeguards who perform rescues just like this every day.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

An 8-foot hammerhead was briefly hooked by two fishermen on the Malibu pier that year, prompting lifeguards to warn kayakers, surfers and paddlers in the water.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

Freya Macfarlane, one of the lifeguards tasked with keeping people safe on Northern Ireland's beaches, said this means each day starts with assessing the water and the beach for hazards.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

One of his friends came up with the phrase “health epidemic,” and they were going on to the parents and lifeguards that we needed to be ejected to prevent an outbreak at the pool.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls