lifeguard

American  

[lahyf-gahrd] / ˈlaɪfˌgɑrd /

noun

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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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

The heat drove many people to the country's beaches to cool off in the water, even though lifeguard supervision is not due to start in many areas until July.

From Barron's • May 26, 2026

Pratt had been shopping the idea of a lifeguard movie and was determined to stay relevant, according to his memoir.

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

Hernandez said he was in the process of selling one to a Mexican local who works as a lifeguard in El Paso.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026

I walk a frozen Bothnian Gulf at Nallikari, an obscured lighthouse, a delinquent lifeguard stand, and makeshift saunas stand on white expanse like archaeology.

From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026

Hitting land, the boys raced back to the Twenty-Sixth Street beach, grabbed the black lifeguard, and told him what had happened.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield