a division or district of a city or town, as for administrative or political purposes.
one of the districts into which certain English and Scottish boroughs are divided.
a division, floor, or room of a hospital for a particular class or group of patients.
a convalescent ward; a critical ward.
any of the separate divisions of a prison.
a political subdivision of a parish in Louisiana.
Mormon Church. one of the subdivisions of a stake, presided over by a bishop.
Fortification. an open space within or between the walls of a castle or fortified place.
the castle's lower ward.
Law.
a person, especially a minor, who has been legally placed under the care of a guardian or a court.
the state of being under the care or control of a legal guardian.
guardianship over a minor or some other person legally incapable of managing their own affairs.
the state of being under restraining guard or in custody.
a person who is under the protection or control of another.
a movement or posture of defense, as in fencing.
a curved ridge of metal inside a lock, forming an obstacle to the passage of a key that does not have a corresponding notch.
the notch or slot in the bit of a key into which such a ridge fits.
the act of keeping guard or protective watch.
watch and ward.
Archaic. a company of guards or a garrison.
(Aaron) Montgomery, 1843–1913, U.S. merchant and mail-order retailer.
Artemas 1727–1800, American general in the American Revolution.
Artemus Charles Farrar Browne, 1834–67, U.S. humorist.
Barbara Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, 1914–81, English economist and author.
Mrs. Humphry Mary Augusta Arnold, 1851–1920, English novelist, born in Tasmania.
Sir Joseph George, 1856–1930, New Zealand statesman, born in Australia: prime minister of New Zealand 1906–12, 1928–30.
Lester Frank, 1841–1913, U.S. sociologist.
Nathaniel Theodore de la Guard, 1578?–1652, English clergyman, lawyer, and author in America.
a male given name.
(in many countries) a district into which a city, town, parish, or other area is divided for administration, election of representatives, etc
a room in a hospital, esp one for patients requiring similar kinds of care
a maternity ward
one of the divisions of a prison
an open space enclosed within the walls of a castle
law
Also called: ward of court. a person, esp a minor or one legally incapable of managing his own affairs, placed under the control or protection of a guardian or of a court
guardianship, as of a minor or legally incompetent person
the state of being under guard or in custody
a person who is under the protection or in the custody of another
a means of protection
an internal ridge or bar in a lock that prevents an incorrectly cut key from turning
a corresponding groove cut in a key
a less common word for warden 1
Dame Barbara ( Mary ), Baroness Jackson. 1914–81, British economist, environmentalist, and writer. Her books include Spaceship Earth (1966)
Mrs Humphry, married name of Mary Augusta Arnold. 1851–1920, English novelist. Her novels include Robert Elsmere (1888) and The Case of Richard Meynell (1911)
Sir Joseph George. 1856–1930, New Zealand statesman; prime minister of New Zealand (1906–12; 1928–30)
(forming adjectives) indicating direction towards
a backward step
heavenward progress
(forming adverbs) a variant and the usual US and Canadian form of -wards
Both -ward and -wards occur in such words as backward, forward, upward, and toward. The -ward form is by far the more common in edited American English writing.
What does -ward mean? The suffix -ward is used to mean "in the direction of," either in time or space. It is often used in everyday and technical terms. The form -ward comes from Old English -weard, meaning “towards.”What are variants of -ward?The suffix -ward is more common in North American English. In British English, the variant -wards, as in towards, is more commonly used. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article on -wards.
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun warde, Old English weard; Middle English verb warde(n), Old English weardian; cognate with Middle Dutch waerden, German warten; cf. guard
Middle English; Old English -weard towards; cognate with German -wärts; akin to Latin vertere to turn ( see verse)
A ward is a group of rooms or a section in a hospital or prison; in a hospital, different wards deal with different needs, like the psychiatric ward or maternity ward. Although ward is most often used in connection with hospitals and prisons, cities and towns can also be broken into wards. These are usually geographic areas that are used in elections: city council members often represent wards of the city. A ward is also the name given to a child who is watched over by someone other than his parents. Sometimes children are known as "wards of the state," meaning they have been taken from their homes.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A video taken shortly before her rescue showed Jackie sparring with two younger eagles, as she flipped on her back to ward them off with her talons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Homeowners spend thousands to ward off the pantry-raiding, toothpaste-sniffing beasts, exposing a rift among volunteer groups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
David had called her ward that morning to say he was concerned about his daughter after she posted an emotional tribute on Facebook to a friend who had died at West Lane.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
However, the central bank could opt to hike rates again in September to ward off potential second-round inflationary effects from higher energy prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
There were not many Hollanders in the ward who would be able to read the Dutch text, but at last I slipped it around the neck of a grateful young woman from Utrecht.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Analyst Andrew Lyons tells clients in a note that the promotion of Greg Ward to CEO resolves longstanding succession uncertainty in the latter stages of Shemara Wikramanayake’s eight-year tenure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Lyons thinks that Ward will be well received by investors due to his 30-year tenure at Macquarie, which has included leading its fast-growing retail banking business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Charlotte Ward, 26, has said planning ahead is difficult.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
"You need those top facilities for players in Europe who are used to it," added Ward.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
They were invented by the famous fern expert Dr. Ward, who made a fortune selling what was admittedly a rather simple item.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
As a suffix -wood is sometimes a corruption of -ward, e.g.
From The Romance of Names by Weekley, Ernest
Names in -ward are rather numerous, and, as they mostly come from the titles of rural officials and are often confused with compounds of -herd, they are all put together here.
From The Romance of Names by Weekley, Ernest
Some of the occupative names in -ward and -herd are rather deceptive.
From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest
The duke chatted to some of the young patients on the wards and also some of their families.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
They work in rural clinics and hospital wards across the world, from small Caribbean islands to as far away as Italy, where poor, rural communities rely on Cuban doctors to offer basic health services.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Everything clicked for the Beatles after the well-tailored Epstein convinced his wards to forsake Hamburg leather for matching suits in 1962.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
The figures show during May there were 2,241 patients a day, on average, who experience corridor care, while on wards there were 669.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
Some evenings, during the worst months, all the house directress has to feed her dozen wards are cakes made from mustard powder and water.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Some actual Buffetts have warded off comparisons to Berkshire’s chairman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
Infrastructure like the Grapevine might’ve also warded her off.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2026
Another widely-circulated post was written by a person who said their mother was badly injured in the attack and was currently warded in a hospital's intensive care unit.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2024
The drug, called lolamicin, also warded off secondary infections with Clostridioides difficile, a common and dangerous hospital-associated bacterial infection, and was effective against more than 130 multidrug-resistant bacterial strains in cell culture.
From Science Daily ● May 29, 2024
Their blades struck and warded and struck again with such speed that the eye could scarcely see them.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
Praised for warding off pests, so-called bodega cats are also a cultural fixture for New Yorkers, some of whom are now pushing to enshrine legal rights for the little store helpers.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
The subsidy-fueled gold rush emboldened unions to squeeze producers, warding off studios looking for inexpensive film locations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Social media–savvy psychologists and life coaches have created a cottage industry of warding off and healing from narcissists.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2025
Through that work, Leal said he and other scientists have never found a product more long-lasting and overall effective at warding off mosquitoes than DEET.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
In evading and warding off wage increases, employers are of course behaving in an economically rational fashion; their business isn’t to make their employees more comfortable and secure but to maximize the bottom line.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
