guarantee 
3. To undertake to secure to another, as 
claims, rights, or possessions; pledge one's 
self to uphold or maintain. 
By the treaty of alliance she guaranteed the Polish con- 
stitution in a secret article. Brougham. 
The possession of Navarre, which had been guaranteed 
to them on their father's decease. 
Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., i. 2. 
The great problem is to guarantee individualism against 
the masses on the one hand, and the masses against the 
individual on the other. G. Ripletj, in Frothingham, p. 147. 
4. To engage to indemnify for or protect from 
injury: as, to guarantee one against loss. 
guarantor (gar'an-tor), . [< OF. garantor, 
garanteur, icairenteor, etc.: see warrantor, a 
doublet of guarantor.'] One who makes a 
guaranty. [The following distinction between guar- 
antor and surety may be noted : " A surety is generally 
a co-maker of the note, while the guarantor never is a 
maker, and the leading difference between the two is that 
the surety's promise is to meet an obligation which be- 
comes his own immediately on the principal's failure to 
meet it, while the guarantor's promise is always to pay 
the debt of another. " Daniel.] 
guaranty (gar'an-ti), . ; pi. guaranties (-tiz). 
[More correctly garanty or garranty (= D. ga- 
rande = Dan. Sw. garanti) ; < OF. garantie, F. 
garantie (= Pr. garentia = Sp. garantia = Pg. 
garantia = It. gwarentia), guaranty, warranty, 
fern, of garanti, pp. of garantir, F. garantir (= 
Pr. garentir = Sp. Pg. garantir = It. guarentire, 
guarantire; cf. D. garanderen = G. garantiren 
= Dan. garantere = Sw. garantera), warrant, < 
garant, guarant, warant, a warrant : see war- 
rant, and cf. warranty, a doublet of guaranty.'] 
1. The act of warranting or securing; a war- 
rant or surety. 
The counsellor . . . pledged a word, till then undoubted, 
to that lie for which no guaranty but his could have won 
even a momentary credence. W. Phillips, Speeches, p. 74. 
2. Specifically, in law, a separate, independent 
contract by which the guarantor undertakes, in 
writing, for a valuable consideration, to be an- 
swerable for the payment of some particular 
debt, or future debts, or the performance of 
some duty, in case of the failure of another per- 
son primarily liable to pay or perform. Cole- 
brooke, On Collateral Securities. One may orally 
assume the debt of another, making himself a debtor im- 
mediately ; but if the engagement is a mere guaranty of 
the obligation of another it must be in writing. [Guaran- 
tee is often used for guaranty, but in legal matters it is 
more correct to use guaranty for the name of the promise 
or contract of guaranty, guarantor for the maker of the 
guaranty, and guarantee for the person for whom the guar- 
anty is made, and also for the act of performing the guar- 
anty.] 
The nature and soul of things takes on itself the guar- 
anty of the fulfilment of every contract, so that honest 
service cannot come to loss. Emers&n, Compensation. 
Guaranties often extend to all the provisions of a treaty, 
and thus approach to the class of defensive alliances. 
Woolsey, Introd. to Inter. Law, 105. 
3. That which guarantees anything; aground 
or basis of security: as, constitutional guaran- 
ties; his character is guaranty for his assertions; 
what guaranty have I that you will keep your 
word ? Continuing guaranty, an undertaking to be 
responsible for money to be advanced or goods to be sold 
to another from time to time in the future ; a guaranty not 
exhausted by one transaction on the faith of it. Guar- 
anty society, a joint-stock society formed for giving 
guaranties for the carrying out of engagements between 
other parties, or for making good losses occasioned by 
defalcations, on the payment of a premium. Treaties 
Of guaranty, accessory stipulations, sometimes incorpo- 
rated in the main instrument and sometimes appended to 
it, in which a third power promises to give aid to one of 
the treaty -making powers, in case certain specific rights 
all or part of those conveyed to him in the instrument 
are violated by the other party. Woolsey. 
guaranty (gar'an-ti), v. t. ; pret. and pp. guar- 
antied, ppr. guarantying. [< guaranty, n. Cf. 
guarantee, v., and warranty, t>.] Same as guar- 
antee. 
Before the Regulating Act of 1733, the allowances made 
by the Company to the Presidents of Bengal were abun- 
dantly sufficient to guaranty them against any thing like 
a necessity for giving in to that pernicious practice. 
Burke, Aff airs of India. 
guarapo (gwa-ra'po), n. [Sp.] A drink made 
by fermenting the juice of the sugar-cane, or the 
refuse of the sugar-cane steeped in water. 
guarauna (gwa-ra'na), n, [8. Amer.] 1. A 
bird of the family Aramida; ; the scolopaceous 
courlan, Arumus scolopaceus. 2. A kind of 
ibis : now taken as a specific name of the white- 
faced glossy ibis, Ibis guarauna. 
guard (gard), v. [Formerly also gard; not in 
ME. ; < OF. garder, to keep, ward, guard, save, 
preserve, etc., earlier guarder, warder (F . garder 
= Pr. Sp. Pg. guardar = It. guardare), < MHG. 
warten, watch, = E. ward: see ward, v.~\ I. 
trans. 1. To secure against injury of any kind 
in any manner; specifically, to protect by at- 
2645 
tendance ; defend ; keep in safety ; accompany 
as a protection. 
King Helenus, with a crowding coompanye garded, 
From towne to us buskling, vs as his freends freendlye be- 
welcomd. Stanihurst, Knritl, iii. 359. 
For heaven still guards the right. 
Shak., Rich. II., iii. 2. 
Mercy becomes a prince, and guards him best. 
Fletcher (and others), Bloody Brother, iv. 1. 
Bid him guard with steel head, breast, and limb. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 286. 
2. To provide or secure against objections, or 
the attacks of hostile criticism or malevolence. 
Homer has guarded every circumstance with . . . cau- 
tion. Broome, On the Odyssey. 
My Uncle Toby Shandy had great command of himself, 
and could guard appearances, I believe, as well as most 
men. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, ii. 1. 
3. To protect the edge of, especially by an orna- 
mental border; hence, to adorn with lists, laces, 
or ornaments. 
Give him a livery more guarded than his fellows. 
Shak., M. of V., ii. 2. 
Instead of a fine guarded page, we have got him 
A boy, trick'd up in neat and handsome fashion. 
Ford, Lover's Melancholy, i. 2. 
Red gowns of silk, garded and bordered with white silk, 
and embroidered with letters of gold. 
Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting, I. ii. 
4f. To fasten on a guard for the purpose of 
binding. 5. To insert guards between the 
leaves 
gown or 
with a stripe of purple, as in the case of noble youths or 
senators. 
All the children . . . were waiting there in their goodly 
garded Gowns of purple. 
North, tr. of Plutarch, Cicero, p. 728. 
The most censorious of our Roman gentry, 
Nay, of the guarded robe, the senators 
Esteem an easy purchase. 
Massinger, Roman Actor, i. 1. 
= Syn. 1. To shield, shelter, watch. 
II. intrans. To watch by way of caution or 
defense ; be cautious ; be in a state of caution 
or defense. 
To guard is better than to heal ; 
The shield is nobler than the spear ! 
O. W. Holmes, Meeting of Nat. Sanitary Assoc. 
guard (gard), n. [Formerly also gard, garde; 
< ME. garde (= D. G. Dan. Sw. garde, in sense 
3 (o)), < OF. garde, a guardian, warden, keeper, 
earlier guarde, F. garde = Pr. Sp. Pg. guarda = 
U.guardia, a guard; from the verb. Cf. ward, 
.] 1. A state of readiness to oppose attack ; 
a state of defense ; in general, a state of pro- 
tection against injury or impairment of any 
kind. 
Therfor thei hasted to come tymely to saf garde. 
Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), ii. 197. 
of (an intended guard-book) Guarded 
r robet, the toga of the Romans when bordered 
2. Specifically, a state of caution or vigilance ; 
attentive observation designed to prevent sur- 
prise or attack; watch; heed: as, to keep 
guard; to be on one's guard; to keep a care- 
ful guard over the tongue. 
Temerity puts a man off his guard. Sir B. L' Estrange. 
The great alteration which he made in the state eccle- 
siastical caused him to stand upon his guard at home. 
Sir J. Davits. 
3. One who or that which protects or keeps in 
safety ; one who or that which secures against 
danger, attack, loss, or injury ; one who keeps 
protecting watch. 
The same guards which protect us from disaster, defect, 
and enmity, defend us, if we will, from selfishness and 
fraud. Emerson, Compensation. 
Specifically (a) A man or body of men occupied in pre- 
serving a person or place from attack or injury, or in pre- 
venting an escape ; he or they whose business it is to de- 
fend, or to prevent attack or surprise : as, a bodyguard; 
a prison guard. 
A guarde of souldiers . . . examined us before we came 
into the towne. Coryat, Crudities, I. 12. 
She bade her slender purse be shared 
Among the soldiers of the guard. 
Scott, L. of the L., vi 10. 
(b) Anything that keeps off evil : as, modesty is the guard 
of innocence. 
Different passions more or less inflame ; . . . 
Reason is here no guide, but still a guard. 
Pope, Essay on Man, ii. 162. 
(c) That which secures against hostile criticism or censure ; 
a protection against malevolent or ignorant attacks upon 
one's reputation, opinions, etc. 
They have expressed themselves with as few guards and 
restrictions as I. Bp. Atterbury. 
At Athens, the nicest and best studied behaviour was 
not a sufficient guard for a man of great capacity. 
Burke, Vind. of Nat. Society. 
(d) In fencing or boxing, a posture of passive defense ; the 
arms or weapon in such a posture : as, to beat down one's 
guard. 
guard 
Twine your body more about, that you may fall to a 
more sweet, comely, gentleman-like guard. 
B. jonson, Every Man in his Humour, i. 4. 
Colonel Esmond . . . took his guard in silence. The 
swords were no sooner met than Castlewood knocked up 
Esmond's. Thackeray, Henry Esmond, iii. 13. 
(e) In the game of cricket, the position of the bat for most 
effectually defending the wicket. (/) In Great Britain, a 
person who has charge of a mail-coach or a railway-train ; 
a conductor ; in the United States, a brakeman or gate- 
keeper on an elevated railroad. 
Come creeping over to the front, along the coach-roof, 
guard, and make one at this basket ! 
Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit, xxxvi. 
4. pi. In cricket, the pads or protectors worn on 
the legs to prevent injury from swiftly thrown 
balls. 5. Any part, appliance, or attachment 
designed or serving to protect or secure against 
harmful contact, injury, loss, or detriment of 
any kind, (a) That part of the hilt of a sword which 
protects the hand. Swords of antiquity and of the middle 
ages usually had the cross-guard. In the sixteenth cen- 
tury, when the use of steel gloves was abandoned and the 
sword became the chief weapon of persons not armed for 
war, the guard was made more elaborate by the addition 
of the pas d'ane. Toward the end of that century the 
knuckle-bow was added, some swords combining these 
two additions with two straight quillons of which the 
cross-guard is formed. (See cut under hilt.) Another 
guard of this epoch was the shell-guard. The basket-hilt 
came into use toward the close of the sixteenth century 
and lasted through the seventeenth. (See cut under clay- 
more.) In the second half of the seventeenth century 
the guard became more simple, and consisted chiefly of 
a knuckle-bow, the shell of the guard when still used 
being reduced to a very small saucer-shaped plate sur- 
rounding the blade. The knuckle-bow guard continued 
in use throughout the eighteenth century in swords worn 
with civil costume, as well as in most of those used in war, 
and is still the guard of the modern sword and saber, some 
cavalry sabers and the like having this knuckle-guard so 
expanded laterally as to approach the form of the basket- 
hilt. (6) In a firearm, the metal bow or other device which 
protects the trigger. Also called trigger-guard, (e) An 
ornamental lace, hem, or border ; hence, in the plural, 
such ornaments in general. 
And who reades Plutarchs eyther historie or philoso- 
phic, shall flnde hee trimmeth both their garments with 
gards of Poesie. Sir P. Sidney, Def. of Poesie. 
The body of your discourse is sometime guarded with 
fragments, and the guards are but slightly basted on 
neither. Shak., Much Ado, i. 1. 
(d) A chain or cord for fastening a watch, brooch, or brace- 
let to the dress of the wearer, (e) Naut., the railing of the 
promenade-deck of a steamer, intended to prevent persons 
from falling overboard ; also, a widening of the deck of a 
side- wheel steamer by a framework of strong timbers which 
curve out on each side to the paddle-wheels, and protect 
them against collision with wharfs and boats. (/) A metal 
frame placed over a nut in an engine, to prevent it from be- 
ing jarred off. (g) One of the fingers in a harvester in which 
the knives of the cutter-bar move. (A) In bookbinding : (1) 
A reinforcing slip placed between the leaves of a blank 
book designed for an album or a scrap-book. (2) A narrow 
strip or narrow strips of paper sewed near the back of a 
book, made for inserted plates, with intent to keep the book 
flat, and prevent it from being thicker at the fore edge 
than at the back, (i) A tide-lock between a dock and a 
river, (j) The guard-plate of the door that closes the 
opening of a cupola-furnace, (k) A supplementary safety- 
rail of heavy timber placed beside a rail in a railway, at 
a switch or upon a bridge. (() In a vehicle, a hood se- 
cured to the axle or bolster, and extending over the nave 
or hub, to protect the axle from mud. (in) A fender. 
My three sisters with myself sat by the firelight round 
the guard of our nursery. 
De Quince//, Autobiog. Sketches, I. 13. 
(n) A bar or bars placed across a window, (o) A guard-ring. 
(p) An iron strap formed into a hoop or hook, attached 
to the insulator of a telegraph-line to prevent the wire 
from falling if the insulator is broken, (q) In Cephalo- 
poda, the rostrum, a calcareous shell guarding the apex 
of the phragmacone, as of a belemnite. See cut under 
belemnite. Corporal's guard. See corporal^. Court 
of guard. See court. Guard report, a report sent in 
by the commander of a guard on being relieved. Leg- 
and-foot guard, (a) A device for the protection of a 
horse's foot or leg, to prevent interfering, overreaching, 
or cutting of the knees if the animal falls forward, (b) 
A piece of strong leather to which is attached an iron 
plate, and which is secured by straps to the right leg of 
an artillery driver to protect it from injury by the car- 
riage-pole. Magnetic guard, a mask or respirator of 
magnetized iron gauze, used to keep from the air-pas- 
sages the particles of steel-dust which pervade the at- 
mosphere of grinding-shops. Main guard (milit.), a 
body of horse posted before a camp for the safety of the 
army : in a garrison it is that guard to which all the rest 
are subordinate. Marine guard, a detachment of offi- 
cers and soldiers of the marine corps detailed for service 
on a United States vessel of war. National guard. See 
national. Officer of the guard. See officer. Off one's 
guard, not ready for defense ; not watchful. On guard, 
(a) Detailed to act, or acting, as a guard; hence, in gen- 
eral, watching; guarding. (6) In fencing, in the attitude 
most advantageous for attack or defense. Rolando (ed. 
Forsyth), Modern Art of Fencing. On one's guard, 
ready to protect one's self or another ; watchful ; vigilant ; 
cautious; suspicious. 
Fields are full of eyes, and woods have ears : 
For this the wise are ever on their guard, 
For unforeseen, they say, is unprepar'd. 
Dryden, Pal. and Arc., ii. 73. 
There on his guard he stood. 
li"iini Hood and the Valiant Knight (Child's Ballads, 
[V. 390). 
