Guard or guards may refer to:

Professional occupations

Bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street *

Lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and CPR/ AED first a ...

, who rescues people from drowning *

Prison guard A prison officer or corrections officer is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation of prisoners. They are responsible for the care, custody, and control of individuals who have been ...

, who supervises prisoners in a prison or jail *

Security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...

, who protects property, assets, or people * Conductor (rail) § Train guard, in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and India

Computing and telecommunications

* Guard (computer science), in programming language, an expression that directs program execution *

Guard (information security) In information security, a guard is a device or system for allowing computers on otherwise separate networks to communicate, subject to configured constraints. In many respects a guard is like a firewall and guards may have similar functionality to ...

, a device for controlling communication between computer networks *

Guard interval In telecommunications, guard intervals are used to ensure that distinct transmissions do not interfere with one another, or otherwise cause overlapping transmissions. These transmissions may belong to different users (as in TDMA) or to the same ...

, intervals in transmission, used in telecommunications *

Aircraft emergency frequency The aircraft emergency frequency (also known as GUARD) is a frequency used on the aircraft band reserved for emergency communications for aircraft in distress. The frequencies are 121.5 MHz for civilian, also known as International Air Distress ...

, commonly referred to as "guard"

Governmental and military

Border guard A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Federal Police (Germany), Germany, Guardia di Finanza, Italy or State Border Gua ...

, a state security agency * Coast guard, responsible for coastal defence and offshore rescue * Colour guard, a detachment of soldiers assigned to the protection of regimental colors *

Commander-in-Chief's Guard The Commander-in-Chief's Guard, commonly known as Washington's Life Guard, was a unit of the Continental Army that protected General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War. Formed in 1776, the Guard was with Washington in all o ...

, a unit of the Continental Army that protected General George Washington * Foot guards, a senior infantry unit in some armies, often with ceremonial duties *

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

, Irish police force informally known as Guards *

Guard of honour A guard of honour ( GB), also honor guard ( US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, or to attend at state ceremonials, ...

, primarily ceremonial * Guards (Russia), elite military in pre-revolutionary Russia * Guards unit, a title earned by distinguished units in the former Soviet Union and in some contemporary ex-Soviet states *

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

in medieval contexts * Royal Guard, military bodyguards, soldiers or armed retainers responsible for the protection of a royal person, often an elite unit of the regular armed forces.

Sports

Guard (gridiron football) In gridiron football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is a player who lines up between the center (American football), center and the offensive tackle, tackles on the offensive line of a football team on the line of scr ...

, a player between the center and the tackles on the offensive line *

Guard (basketball) In the sport of basketball, there are five players play per team, each assigned to positions. Historically, these players have been assigned, to positions defined by the role they play on the court, from a strategic point of view. The three main ...

Point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

, or "playmaker" **

Shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

, or "off guard" ** Combo guard, combining both point and shooting guard * Guard (grappling), a position in martial arts *

Color guard (flag spinning) Color guards or flag corps are teams of performers who perform choreographed dances and routines with various equipment to enhance and interpret the music of a marching band or drum and bugle corps show. Color guard teams can be found in American ...

, people who toss flags, spin a rifle and a saber at performances with a marching band * Winter guard, people who spin and toss flags, rifles, and/or sabers at indoor performances on a tarp

Other uses

* Guard (surname) * Guards (band), an American rock band *

Guards (steamboat) Guards on a steamboat were extensions of the main deck out from the boat’s main hull. Guards were originally adopted for side-wheel steamboats to protect the paddle wheels and to provide a mounting point for the outer ends of the paddle wheel sh ...

* Guard (weapon), part of the handle of a sword designed to stop the user's hand from slipping onto the blade * Guard dogs, guard llamas and guard geese, animals employed to watch for unwanted or unexpected animals or people * Abdominal guarding, in medicine, the tensing of the abdominal wall muscles to guard inflamed organs *

Mate guarding In biology, mating is the pairing of either opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for the purposes of sexual reproduction. ''Fertilization'' is the fusion of two gametes. ''Copulation'' is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproduc ...

, guarding of a potential or former mate from other individuals *

Mouthguard A mouthguard is a protective device for the mouth that covers the teeth and gums to prevent and reduce injury to the teeth, arches, lips and gums. An effective mouthguard is like a crash helmet for teeth and jaws. It also prevents the jaws com ...

, a protective device for the mouth * ''Wächter'' (Anatol) (''Guards''), several monumental sculptures by Anatol Herzfeld

Professional occupations

Computing and telecommunications

Governmental and military

Sports

Other uses

See also