safeguard
Americannoun
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something that serves as a protection or defense or that ensures safety.
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a permit for safe passage.
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a guard or convoy.
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a mechanical device for ensuring safety.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a person or thing that ensures protection against danger, damage, injury, etc
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a document authorizing safe-conduct
verb
Other Word Forms
- unsafeguarded adjective
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)
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Herbert Hoover on "Rugged Individualism" (1928)
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A Single Shard
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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.
The only meaningful safeguard is Step 3, when courts test those explanations against reality.
From Slate • Apr. 10, 2026
In a March 31 joint statement, the governors called for a “diverse energy strategy,” identifying nuclear power as essential to meet growing demand and safeguard the region’s “collective energy future.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
The paper's then editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his "efforts to safeguard freedom of expression" at the helm of the paper.
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
Following the “frightening” experience of being evacuated during the Eaton Fire in 2025, the “Fire Country” and “Rescue Me” actress applied the tactical knowledge she had acquired on set to safeguard the La Cañada dwelling.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026
There has to be some sort of safeguard against this kind of thing.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
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.
