\ ˈwȯrd 
\
\Definition of ward
(Entry 1 of 10)
1a : the action or process of guarding
b : a body of guards
c(1) : a division in a hospital
a maternity ward
(2) : a large room in a hospital where a number of patients often requiring similar treatment are accommodated
Wallace Thurman died in 1934 in the tuberculosis ward of the New York City charity hospital on Welfare Island.— Zeese Papanikolas
3a : the inner court of a castle or fortress
b : a division (such as a cell or block) of a prison
4a : a division of a city for representative, electoral, or administrative purposes
b : a division of some English and Scottish counties corresponding to a hundred
c : the Mormon local congregation having auxiliary organizations (such as Sunday schools and relief societies) and one or more quorums of each office of the Aaronic priesthood
5 : a projecting ridge of metal in a lock casing or keyhole permitting only the insertion of a key with a corresponding notch also : a corresponding notch in a bit of a key
6 : a person or thing under guard, protection, or surveillance: such as
a : a minor subject to wardship
b : a person who by reason of incapacity (such as minority or mental illness) is under the protection of a court either directly or through a guardian appointed by the court
— called also ward of court
c : a person or body of persons under the protection or tutelage of a government
7 : a means of defense : protection
ward
verbwarded; warding; wards
Definition of ward (Entry 2 of 10)
-ward
adjective suffixvariants:
or less commonly -wards
Definition of -ward (Entry 3 of 10)
1 : that moves, tends, faces, or is directed toward
riverward
2 : that occurs or is situated in the direction of
leftward
-ward
adverb suffixvariants:
or -wards
Definition of -ward (Entry 4 of 10)
1 : in a (specified) spatial or temporal direction
upward afterward
2 : toward a (specified) point, position, or area
earthward
Ward
biographical name (1)\ ˈwȯrd \
\Definition of Ward (Entry 5 of 10)
(Aaron) Montgomery 1843–1913 American merchant
Ward
biographical name (2)Definition of Ward (Entry 6 of 10)
Ar*te*mas \ ˈär-tə-məs \ 1727–1800 American general in Revolution
\ 1727–1800 American general in RevolutionWard
biographical name (3)Definition of Ward (Entry 7 of 10)
Artemus — see Charles Farrar browne
Ward
biographical name (4)Definition of Ward (Entry 8 of 10)
Barbara 1914–1981 Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth English economist
Ward
biographical name (5)Definition of Ward (Entry 9 of 10)
Sir Joseph George 1856–1930 New Zealand statesman
Ward
biographical name (6)Definition of Ward (Entry 10 of 10)
Mary Augusta 1851–1920 Mrs. Humphry Ward née Arnold English novelist
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Synonyms & Antonyms for ward
Synonyms: Noun
- aegis
- (also egis),
- ammunition,
- armor,
- buckler,
- cover,
- defense,
- guard,
- protection,
- safeguard,
- screen,
- security,
- shield,
- wall
Synonyms: Verb
- bulwark,
- cover,
- defend,
- fence,
- fend,
- forfend,
- guard,
- keep,
- protect,
- safeguard,
- screen,
- secure,
- shield
Antonyms: Verb
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Examples of ward in a Sentence
Noun
She works in the cancer ward.
the council representative from Ward 22
They were wards of the state. Verb
vowed that he would take whatever measures were necessary to ward the nation's people Adjective suffix
a rearward movement of troops
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Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Zhongnan Hospital opened a 24-hour fever clinic and an isolation ward, both of which were quickly overrun.
—
New York Times, "25 Days That Changed the World: How Covid-19 Slipped China’s Grasp," 1 Jan. 2021 The smell of disinfectant is notably absent here -- there isn't any left —and at the end of the ward, in a unit seemingly no longer in use, two dead rats lie on the floor.
—
Vasco Cotovio, Isa Soares, William Bonnett, CNN, "Faced with crumbling hospitals, many Covid-19 patients in Venezuela prefer their chances at home," 7 Dec. 2020 Sahin and Türeci, both children of Turkish immigrants to Germany, met while working on an oncology ward in the southwestern city of Homburg.
—
Washington Post, "Their coronavirus vaccine candidate has made them billionaires. This modest German-Turkish couple doesn’t own a car.," 12 Nov. 2020 Now the aura is a little more like an outpatient ward.
—
Gail Collins New York Times, Star Tribune, "Debate number two and a half: Introducing the Trump-muter," 22 Oct. 2020 He was eventually moved to a different ward, where the recovery wasn’t any easier.
—
oregonlive, "COVID-19 survivor, once in weeklong coma, lifted by tribal healing songs: ‘I pray that I wake up tomorrow’," 22 Dec. 2020 At the end of the season, Jo willingly enters a psychiatric ward for mental health treatment.
—
Ariana Romero, refinery29.com, "There’s A Deeper Meaning To Jo’s Big Grey’s Anatomy Decision," 14 Dec. 2020 Pearce, who played alongside Van Hollebeke in the middle of the U.S. defense, said there were things at which her teammate excelled, like communication and quick thinking, that translate from the playing field to the ICU ward.
—
Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, "How Rachel Buehler Van Hollebeke went from the USWNT to the front lines of COVID-19," 30 Nov. 2020 The Lakewood Police Department’s neighborhood policing program includes one officer assigned to each ward.
—
John Benson, cleveland, "Lakewood Councilman concerned about neighborhood policing program," 25 Nov. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Will extra innings begin with a runner on second base again, a strategy to ward off extra-long games?
—
Phil Miller, Star Tribune, "MLB Insider: Sorry Twins fans, baseball is a long way from being out of the woods," 12 Dec. 2020 The group argues that the protective barrier around Internet companies to ward off prosecution has enabled entrepreneurs to innovate, and for platforms to grow.
—
Sue Halpern, The New Yorker, "How Joe Biden Could Help Internet Companies Moderate Harmful Content," 4 Dec. 2020 In video demonstrations, the company shows how gusts of air can keep smoke away from food sitting on a roller grill, and AirShield is currently undergoing testing to see if the process can ward off covid-19-causing droplets.
—
Washington Post, "Can jets of air keep covid-19 off buffet food? One company banks on it.," 1 Dec. 2020 The purpose was to gather information about the development, manufacturing and distribution of shots to ward off the novel coronavirus and therapies to treat the sick.
—
Tyler Pager, Bloomberg.com, "Biden Team to Meet with Pharma Companies Soon on Virus Fight," 15 Nov. 2020 But the success of staging a season will also hinge on their opponents’ ability to ward off the virus.
—
Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, "Having kept virus away, UCLA hopes ‘Bruin Bubble’ won’t burst," 26 Oct. 2020 No restaurants, no socializing outside the team, anything to ward off the virus.
—
oregonlive, "Brandon Kipper says despite Oregon State’s big offensive line losses, Beavers won’t ‘skip a beat’ this season," 1 Oct. 2020 Flagellant religious orders whipped themselves in the hope that the pain would ward off the Last Judgment.
—
The Economist, "How we live now Visors and violence: we are returning to the Middle Ages," 14 Sep. 2020 Efforts to help ward off the coronavirus come amid a staggering death toll that surpassed 300,000 on Monday.
—
Jim Salter And Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar, chicagotribune.com, "Some states say their Pfizer vaccine allotments were cut for next week: ‘This is disruptive and frustrating’," 17 Dec. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ward.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Learn More about ward
Dictionary Entries near ward
See More Nearby EntriesStatistics for ward
Last Updated
13 Jan 2021
Look-up Popularity
Cite this Entry
“Ward.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ward. Accessed 17 Jan. 2021.
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More Definitions for ward
ward
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of ward
: a section in a hospital for patients needing a particular kind of care
US : a section in a prison
: one of the sections into which a city or town is divided for the purposes of an election
See the full definition for ward in the English Language Learners Dictionary
ward
noun\ ˈwȯrd \
\Kids Definition of ward
(Entry 1 of 4)
1 : a large room in a hospital where a number of patients often needing similar treatment are cared for
2 : one of the parts into which a town or city is divided for management
3 : a person under the protection of a guardian
ward
verbwarded; warding
Kids Definition of ward (Entry 2 of 4)
: to avoid being hit or affected by
Wear a sweater to ward off the cold.
-ward
adjective suffix\ wərd \
variants:
also -wards \ wərdz \
Kids Definition of -ward
(Entry 1 of 4)
1 : that moves, faces, or is pointed toward
windward
2 : that is found in the direction of
-ward
adverb suffixvariants:
or -wards
Kids Definition of -ward (Entry 2 of 4)
1 : in a specified direction
upward
2 : toward a specified place
ward
noun\ ˈwȯ(ə)rd \
\Medical Definition of ward
: a division in a hospital
a maternity ward especially : a large room in a hospital where a number of patients often requiring similar treatment are accommodated a tuberculosis ward
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ward
noun\ ˈwȯrd \
\Legal Definition of ward
1 : a division of a city for representative, electoral, or administrative purposes
2a : a person who by reason of incapacity (as minority or incompetency) is under the control of a guardian
b : a person who by reason of incapacity is under the protection of a court either directly or through a guardian appointed by the court
— called also ward of the court
— compare interdictKeep scrolling for more
Comments on ward
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Time Traveler for ward
The first known use of ward was before the 12th century
See more words from the same century