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home guard
home guardnouna volunteer force used for meeting local emergencies when the regular armed forces are needed elsewhere.
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Home Guard
Home Guardnouna volunteer part-time military force recruited for the defence of the United Kingdom in World War II
home guard
Americannoun
noun
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a volunteer part-time military force recruited for the defence of the United Kingdom in World War II
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(in various countries) a civil defence and reserve militia organization
Etymology
Origin of home guard
First recorded in 1735–45
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:
Her father, Jaiveer, works as a home guard, while her mother, Joginder, is a homemaker.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
He said two of the dead were members of the home guard, a voluntary force that helps police control civil disturbances.
From Reuters ● Aug. 1, 2023
The former commander of the British battalion of the International Brigade, Tom Wintringham, approached the government with plans for a home guard.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 22, 2020
The London Daily Telegraph credited Raymond Sackler with serving in the United Kingdom’s home guard, including as a plane spotter in World War II.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 21, 2017
By time I came along, most everybody in Banks County thought General Tweedy had been a high monkity-monk in the Army of the Confederacy instead of just in the home guard.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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After his service with the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard, Lavender appeared on stage - memorably with Dustin Hoffman in The Merchant of Venice and also in Sister Act: The Musical.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2024
But Widney was also tied to the Home Guard Vigilance Committee in the late 1800s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2023
I met him while he was paying a visit to Norwegian Home Guard troops on watch at a key oil refinery - near the country's second city, Bergen.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2022
Norway’s Home Guard, a rapid mobilization force, will also boost its presence, officials said without elaborating about the security changes.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 1, 2022
I’m proud to say there’s a lot less panting and wheezing than when our Home Guard unit first formed.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
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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.