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Synonyms

stand guard

Idioms  

  1. Watch over, act as a lookout, as in We'll climb the tree and get the apples if Josh will stand guard, or There's a parking space; stand guard while I make a U-turn and get to it. This term alludes to the military defense of posting guards to watch for the enemy.

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.

Wolves have been observed swatting the birds away, even appearing to designate a pack member to stand guard.

From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026

Swedish foreign minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard told The Guardian that Sweden “will always stand guard over international law.”

From Salon • Dec. 22, 2025

Incoherent hieroglyphs plate the walls, plastic pharaohs stand guard in the check-in lane, and taxis idle under the haunches of a gargantuan Sphinx.

From Slate • Nov. 18, 2025

Its members stand guard at historical ceremonies and attend regular army training sessions.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

What was the sense of making the stewardess stand guard over us if she refused to protect us from strangers?

From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia

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.