Guard or guards may refer to:

Professional occupations

* Bodyguard, 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 A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features ...

, 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 bee ...

, who supervises prisoners in a prison or jail * Security guard, 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 Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In d ...

, 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 Gove ...

, Irish police force informally known as Guards * Guard of honour, 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 Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

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 and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team on the line of scrimmage used primarily for blocking. Right ...

, 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 positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run the team's offense by ...

, 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), 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, 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 co ...

, 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