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
-
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:
Enlist a tech aide to safeguard your devices and update your software and privacy settings.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
“The findings provide additional evidence supporting the role of a 6-8 hours’ sleep duration as a health safeguard for middle-aged and older adults, likely attributable to more favorable distributions of sleep stages,” the authors say.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
“At a time when California is racing to keep pace with a rapidly changing climate, we cannot afford to lose the flexibility needed to safeguard our forests for future generations.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
“Japan feels a sense of responsibility to safeguard the ideals of the United Nations as our beacon of hope,” Takaichi said on Tuesday.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
"But we can't destroy it. We have to safeguard it—for all we know, this might be the last coin of its kind in the world."
From "Legend" by Marie Lu
The Home Office says it is considering advice on reducing barriers to research involving controlled drugs while ensuring safeguards remain in place.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which safeguards the Iranian regime and is active in the Strait of Hormuz, has changed tactics rapidly and could increase attacks on ports, refineries and pipelines, regional officials said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
A US appeals court upheld on Friday the Pentagon's decision to exclude Anthropic from its supply chain, a decision taken when the AI startup refused to remove certain safeguards on its Claude model.
From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026
I suggested we sit down together, go through her accounts and put a few safeguards in place.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
This time, I let go of the inhibitions, the safeguards I’ve taught myself to always hold up.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Robert Gunn, station director of Sizewell B, said the deal would ensure hundreds of jobs were safeguarded.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
"Our national heritage and environment must be safeguarded from greed and unnecessary destruction without public participation," he added.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
"The government will ensure that the company as a whole remains viable for the future and that Germany's security of supply is safeguarded," the spokeswoman said.
From Barron's ● May 19, 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
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
Nieuwenhuijsen reached out to Kars, who connected her with the middle-aged Dutch couple who had been safeguarding a sheaf of old Sablonière family letters in bundles of plastic bags—and were Nieuwenhuijsen’s own long-lost cousins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
"Oman once again reaffirms its steadfast commitment to continuing its efforts aimed at safeguarding navigation in the Strait of Hormuz... We also call upon all parties to cooperate with Oman in these efforts."
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
Measures that reduced disturbances generated the largest benefits for forest biodiversity and were nearly as important as preventing outright deforestation when it came to safeguarding carbon stocks.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
The councillor said she had reported a "very serious safeguarding issue" to the party on 14 July but "had heard nothing" since.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Knowing she was safeguarding his big weakness made him feel better—like he’d fastened his seat belt for a high-speed chase.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
