guard against

phrasal verb

guarded against; guarding against; guards against

: to try to keep (something) from happening

Clean the wound to guard against infection.

That's the sort of thinking we have to guard against.

Examples of guard against in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As before, the most durable protection afforded by the new vaccine guarded against critical illness, Link-Gelles said. —Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2024

Term limits can guard against the forces that would otherwise make presidential systems vulnerable to democratic backsliding or autocracy. —Amanda Taub, New York Times, 6 June 2024

And to guard against any complications, 56-year-old Pierce, of Mount Clemens, has booked a refundable Airbnb reservation for her trip to the Catskills later this week. — Georgea Kovanis 3:05 p.m. —Matthew Dolan, Detroit Free Press, 8 Apr. 2024

The roofing project involved getting rid of materials that contained asbestos, which requires the use of special removal and disposal procedures to guard against contamination. —Chris Ramirez, Journal Sentinel, 9 Feb. 2024

Some aspects of the audition — like playing for a jury hidden behind a curtain, to guard against potential bias — would be familiar to most orchestra musicians. —Sarah Diamond Christopher Lee, New York Times, 27 May 2024

Then only West can guard against dummy’s last club. —Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 12 May 2024

Many of the task force’s recommendations were reflected in the Electoral Count Reform Act, which outlines how electoral votes are counted, to guard against election subversion. —Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 8 May 2024

The guidelines are in place to guard against even the appearance of public officials having a conflict of interest in conducting business on behalf of taxpayers. —Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 6 May 2024