national guard
nounDefinition of national guard
1 : a military establishment serving as a national constabulary and defense force
2 capitalized : a militia force recruited by each state of the U.S., equipped by the federal government, and jointly maintained subject to the call of either
Examples of national guard in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Estonia also launched an e-residency program for foreign businesses and individuals, and established a volunteer body akin to a national guard that’s responsible for defending banks and election systems in the event of a cyberattack. — Adam Janofsky, WSJ, "Estonian President, Eyeing Bigger U.N. Role, Urges Government Action on Cybersecurity," 5 Apr. 2018 Three exits down the highway, the national guard is pulling people out of their houses. — Taysha Murtaugh, Country Living, "A Texas Holiday Inn Turned Away This Family's Dogs During Hurricane Harvey," 30 Aug. 2017 Separately, King Salman replaced the minister of the Saudi national guard who controlled the branches of the military that weren’t yet under the crown prince’s control. — Krishnadev Calamur, The Atlantic, "Saudi Arabia's Very Public, Very Risky Palace Intrigue," 5 Nov. 2017 And since 1963 the national guard was the preserve of Prince (later King) Abdullah and his clan. — The Economist, "Saudi Arabia’s unprecedented shake-up," 5 Nov. 2017 The arrests came a few hours after the king replaced the minister in charge of the Saudi national guard, Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, who controlled the last of the three Saudi armed forces not yet considered to be under control of the crown prince. — David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times, "Saudi Arabia Arrests 11 Princes, Including Billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal," 4 Nov. 2017 Last month, President Trump became the third president to renew the post-9/11 state of national emergency, which allows the president to call up the national guard, hire and fire officers and delay retirements. — Gregory Korte, USA TODAY, "Air Force will recall as many as 1,000 retired pilots to address serious shortage," 20 Oct. 2017 Noguera, the former head of Venezuela’s national guard, was slapped with sanctions by the U.S. in 2015 for human rights violations committed by security forces during a crackdown on protesters in 2014. — Washington Post, "Venezuela opposition claims evidence of tampered vote count," 19 Oct. 2017 Firefighters, police officers, EMT/paramedic personnel and national guard can have a free breakfast, lunch or Extra Value Meal dinner by showing a badge or ID at 207 participating restaurants in Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. — Doreen Christensen, Sun-Sentinel.com, "After Hurricane Irma, free meals for first responders at McDonald's on Wednesday," 24 Sep. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'national guard.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on national guard
What made you want to look up national guard? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Words from Greek and Roman Mythology Quiz
-
- Boreal comes from the name of the ancient Greek god of which wind?
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
-
Words from Greek and Roman Mythology Quiz
A mythological/etymological mashup!
Take the quiz -
Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz
Words to improve your Scrabble game
Take the quiz -
True or False?
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
Take the quiz -
Syn City
Build a city of skyscrapers—one synonym at a time.
Play the game
Share national guard
Resources for national guard