safeguard
Americannoun
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safeguards
plural
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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)
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safeguards,
present (3rd person singular)
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safeguarded,
past participle, past
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safeguarding
present participle
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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safeguardsimple
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safeguardssimple
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have safeguardedperfect
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has safeguardedperfect
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am safeguardingprogressive
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are safeguardingprogressive
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is safeguardingprogressive
-
have been safeguardingperfect progressive
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has been safeguardingperfect progressive
Past
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safeguardedsimple
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had safeguardedperfect
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was safeguardingprogressive
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were safeguardingprogressive
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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)
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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.
See Examples For:
Learn why cyber insurance for business is now an essential boardroom financial safeguard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
“Medicaid programs have identified a clear need to assess the standards under which these services are being provided to safeguard against overuse or outright fraud.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
The IRS asks nonprofits whether their executive compensation was reviewed by independent people and if they used comparisons to other similar organizations — a standard safeguard against self-dealing.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
Baroness Sheehan, the committee chair, said: "England is at risk of sleepwalking into serious water scarcity if the government does not act now to safeguard the water system."
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
It had become a kind of talisman for me, a safeguard against the terrors of prison.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
OpenAI said Friday it was pausing some activity on an in-development model while it strengthens internal safeguards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Anthropomorphic language can inadvertently shift attention away from the real engineering challenges: ensuring AI systems validate assumptions, distinguish simulations from production environments and operate within appropriate safeguards before taking consequential actions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Anthropic and OpenAI noted in response to AISI's report that its test had reduced or removed normal safeguards.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Anthropic’s Fable model was brought under export control by the government, forcing the company to disable access to all its users, before it was re-released with extra safeguards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 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
"Our national heritage and environment must be safeguarded from greed and unnecessary destruction without public participation," he added.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
The family also said the apprentice was "not properly safeguarded" by BAE Systems.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
The executive pointed to China, as well as Japan and South Korea—which both allow the sale of Chinese cars—as examples of countries that successfully safeguarded their domestic auto industries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
“We believe mining of metals such as nickel and copper should be safeguarded in Europe through competitive long-term business conditions,” Tom Soderman, general manager of Boliden Kevitsa, said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 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
A joint investigation by BBC Panorama and The Times revealed Sullivan has been banned from contact with West Ham's women's and youth teams for the past three years because of safeguarding concerns.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
"As a matter of urgency there should be an independent inquiry into the college led by someone with significant safeguarding experience, and they need to be able to speak to the children there."
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
The Ofsted inspection, which took place within days of the incident in June, found weaknesses in safeguarding policies meant children were not consistently kept safe.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Heritage Crafts is the national charity dedicated to safeguarding and supporting traditional craft skills and knowledge.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Who is safeguarding the consumer to see that no residues of dieldrin or heptachlor are appearing in milk?
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
