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  • Old Guard
    Old Guard
    noun
    the imperial guard created in 1804 by Napoleon: it made the last French charge at Waterloo.
  • old guard
    old guard
    noun
    a group that works for a long-established or old-fashioned cause or principle
Synonyms

Old Guard

American  

noun

  1. the imperial guard created in 1804 by Napoleon: it made the last French charge at Waterloo.

  2. (in the U.S.) the conservative element of any political party, especially the Republican Party.

  3. (usually lowercase) the influential, established, more conservative members of any body, group, movement, etc..

    the old guard of New York society.


old guard 1 British  

noun

  1. a group that works for a long-established or old-fashioned cause or principle

  2. the conservative element in a political party or other group

"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

Old Guard 2 British  

noun

  1. the French imperial guard created by Napoleon in 1804

"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

Etymology

Origin of Old Guard

Translation of French Vieille Garde

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.

See Examples For:

Netflix proved with "The Old Guard" they can make a decent Europudding action film.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2023

Two Old Guard platoon horses, Mickey and Tony, had to be euthanized within days of each other in February 2022.

From Seattle Times ● May 10, 2023

On July 2, 1937, the Old Guard took up sentinel duty, manning around-the-clock watch that continues to this day.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 9, 2021

Someone mentioned an elite Army unit known as the Old Guard, whose special duties include standing watch 24/7, year-round, at the famous tomb overlooking Washington, D.C.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 8, 2021

The Old Guard pounced on him when he came into the lounging room at five o'clock.

From Fore! by Charles Emmett Van Loan

New blood has joined the old guard and things should be better when everything settles down.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

Now the quirky challenger brand is officially joining the old guard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

Yet in their rush to destroy the old guard, Weiss and Ellison have overlooked the fact that they left behind an elite corps of unemployed, highly motivated investigative journalists with nothing left to lose.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026

"We may have a new chairman, but the old guard is now worried about where the economy has moved since the beginning of the year."

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

Anyone else would have been expelled, but he had the queen’s favor, and so the old guard had no choice but to stand aside and let him do his own work in his own way.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

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