Thesaurus results for REAR GUARD

rear guard

noun

Definition of rear guard

as in firing squad

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of rear guard Optional extras include alarm/geolocation, a retractable rear guard rail, a canopy, and custom setups for family or cargo. — New Atlas, 6 July 2026 Any suggestions that Lionel Messi’s presence at the 2026 World Cup might be diminished crumbled on Tuesday night with Algeria’s rear guard. — Ian Nicholas Quillen, Forbes.com, 17 June 2026 The north was expected to be America’s rear guard, a place where values like democracy and women’s rights might have taken hold. — Azam Ahmed, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2024 And assassins from a coalition of all the local indigenous tribes — out for blood over the murder of Jimmy the Creek, one of their own, last episode — slit the throats of Ming’s rear guard. — Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2024 General Fran Sigel was assigned as rear guard for forces moving through town. — Randy McCrory, Arkansas Online, 3 Aug. 2023 By the 1990s, NHTSA had finally adopted a regulation requiring tougher rear guards. — A.c. Thompson, ProPublica, 13 June 2023 The capelin rear guard, sensing danger, rose off the bottom in a great fleeing cloud. — Robert Kunzig, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019 Indeed, Dnipropetrovsk has been a key rear guard for the Ukrainian military and National Guard. — Taras Kuzio, Foreign Affairs, 25 Jan. 2015

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rear guard

Noun

Failed execution led to firing squad law Creech and Pizzuto are Idaho’s longest-serving death row prisoners.

— Kevin Fixler, Idaho Statesman, 10 July 2026
The retrofit allows the prison to conduct executions by both firing squad and lethal injection.

— Jennifer Borresen, USA Today, 1 July 2026

Definition of firing squad

Noun

Ukraine's Zelenskyy also said the country's armed forces had responded to Russian attacks on ships in the Black Sea by striking two military patrol boats and shadow fleet vessels.

— Sam Meredith, CNBC, 6 Aug. 2026
As officers were examining the shooting site, a separate patrol unit stopped a speeding white 2019 BMW 330i near South 11th and Keyes streets and discovered one of the occupants was the third victim, a man who had been shot in the arm.

— Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of patrol

Noun

On October 12, 2025, armed and masked thieves broke into the museum and made off with cash from the register and at least one watch.

— Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Ben Cook, a New York creator who posts about watches on TikTok, uses his Meta smart glasses to listen to music on runs and take hands-free calls.

— Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of watch

Noun

In humans, traits such as neuroticism and recklessness appear to have some evolutionary basis—emerging perhaps to provide our species with sentries who alerted us to threats, and with explorers who led the way to new food sources.

— Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic, 28 July 2026
From Newt's family making first contact with a Facehugger to a wonderfully tense sentry gun sequence, Cameron's extra footage enhances a classic.

— Richard Edwards, Space.com, 17 July 2026

Definition of sentry

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“Rear guard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rear%20guard. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of rear guard

noun

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