safeguard
Americannoun
-
safeguards
plural
-
something that serves as a protection or defense or that ensures safety.
-
a permit for safe passage.
-
a guard or convoy.
-
a mechanical device for ensuring safety.
verb (used with object)
-
safeguards,
present (3rd person singular)
-
safeguarded,
past participle, past
-
safeguarding
present participle
noun
-
a person or thing that ensures protection against danger, damage, injury, etc
-
a document authorizing safe-conduct
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
safeguardsimple
-
safeguardssimple
-
have safeguardedperfect
-
has safeguardedperfect
-
am safeguardingprogressive
-
are safeguardingprogressive
-
is safeguardingprogressive
-
have been safeguardingperfect progressive
-
has been safeguardingperfect progressive
Past
-
safeguardedsimple
-
had safeguardedperfect
-
was safeguardingprogressive
-
were safeguardingprogressive
-
had been safeguardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of safeguard
1325–75; Middle English savegarde (noun) safe conduct < Middle French salvegarde, sauvegarde. See safe, guard
Explanation
A safeguard is a defense or precaution. You could describe a flu shot as a safeguard against getting sick, for example. Safeguards protect against something negative, whether it's an attacking army invading a country or a boy you don't like much asking you to the prom. A store's security system is a safeguard against theft, and a secret password is a safeguard against your sister reading your email. You can use it as a verb too: "We clearly need to safeguard our Halloween candy so Mom and Dad don't steal it after we go to bed."
Vocabulary lists containing safeguard
Declaration of the Rights of Woman (1791)
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Herbert Hoover on "Rugged Individualism" (1928)
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
A Single Shard
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
“We think it is important to distinguish the need to safeguard the Fed’s credibility from the start of a sustained hiking cycle,” says Boivin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Conservationists hope the move will provide a vital safeguard for the future of a plant that now survives in the wild as a single tree clinging to a cliff face.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said the "on orbit" weapon was necessary to safeguard US forces against hostile enemy action.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
The theft-prone models lack a critical safeguard called an engine immobilizer pioneered in the mid-1980s, when more than 60,000 cars a year were stolen in Los Angeles alone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
First a corsair’s cellar, built to safeguard gold, weapons, an eccentric’s beekeeping equipment.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
With over 100 signatories, the letter called for diversity in evaluations and operational safeguards to help evaluators maintain independence.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
But anything ambitious, like agreeing to slow development or craft global safeguards, is likely out of reach.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
But these safeguards are easily bypassed by "tuning kits" or software hacks that make them capable of running much faster, sometimes in excess of 40mph.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
OpenAI said in a blog post on Wednesday that it would “aim to disclose examples that provide useful evidence about how model misalignment arises, how it manifests, and where safeguards succeed or fail.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
There in front of us was the thick metal door with its three different locks and safeguards that we had no way of getting through.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
The force added that the "day of action" had led to a number of individuals being safeguarded.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
These kinds of investigations hint at a larger reality in the Ecuadorean province, where modern life bends around an ecosystem so fiercely safeguarded that wildlife effectively holds legal right of way.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
"Our national heritage and environment must be safeguarded from greed and unnecessary destruction without public participation," he added.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
During the service, with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo in the congregation, the Catholic leader called for "greater room for freedom" and human dignity to be safeguarded.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
Even my father, who safeguarded his possessions with a military order and zeal, never bothered with it, considering it a colony of junk that was mine.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
Her report criticises a "complete failure to protect babies" and a "profound failure of management, governance and safeguarding" at the hospital.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
It warns that safeguarding election integrity is a prerequisite for any candidate’s viability, regardless of message.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
"Kenya will remain an open, secure and welcoming country, protecting opportunities for its citizens, safeguarding the rights of all persons lawfully within its borders," a statement by his spokesman said.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
At an unfair dismissal hearing in February 2023, the judge said the school's redundancy process was genuine and reasonable, and the referral to Prevent had been justified "from a safeguarding perspective".
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
But her main accomplishment may have been inadvertently to keep new ideas about Amazonian history from the public eye—ideas about its past that may, according to their advocates, play a role in safeguarding its future.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
