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  • home guard
    home guard
    noun
    a volunteer force used for meeting local emergencies when the regular armed forces are needed elsewhere.
  • Home Guard
    Home Guard
    noun
    a volunteer part-time military force recruited for the defence of the United Kingdom in World War II

home guard

American  

noun

  1. a volunteer force used for meeting local emergencies when the regular armed forces are needed elsewhere.


Home Guard British  

noun

  1. a volunteer part-time military force recruited for the defence of the United Kingdom in World War II

  2. (in various countries) a civil defence and reserve militia organization

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

He said he had lied about his age to join the Soviet army at age 15 and was part of a home guard near Kharkiv in Ukraine.

From Washington Post ● May 9, 2015

Along with his mate, Robson Greene, he enlists in the home guard.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 18, 2010

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

"Yes, soldiers from the Home Guard found videos from the vehicles' sensors stored in their systems," Lieutenant Colonel Per Gunnar Grosberghaugen, Norwegian Home Guard spokesperson, confirmed to AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

The youngest member of the Home Guard platoon in Dad's Army, one of the BBC's best-loved sitcoms.

From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2024

But Widney was also tied to the Home Guard Vigilance Committee in the late 1800s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2023

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

“Our government put out the call for Local Defense Volunteers—the Home Guard, as Mr. Churchill calls us—and you stepped forward. And you could not have done so at a more critical time.”

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

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