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   ward

   /wɔːd/

   noun

   • 1. a separate room in a hospital, typically one allocated to a particular type of patient: "a children's ward" Similar roomcompartmentdepartmentunitarea
   • 2. an administrative division of a city or borough that typically elects and is represented by a councillor or councillors: "the second most marginal ward in Westminster" Similar districtconstituencydivisionquarterzoneparishcommunitydepartmentcanton
   • ▪ a territorial division of a Latter-day Saints (Mormon) Church presided over by a bishop.
   • 3. a child or young person under the care and control of a guardian appointed by their parents or a court: "for the last three years, the boy has been my ward" Similar dependantchargeprotégépupiltraineeapprenticeminorOpposite guardian
   • ▪ the state of being in the care of a guardian: archaic "the ward and care of the Crown"
   • 4. any of the internal ridges or bars in a lock that prevent the turning of any key which does not have grooves of corresponding form or size.
   • ▪ the grooves in the bit of a key that correspond to the wards in a lock.
   • 5. the action of keeping a lookout for danger: archaic "I saw them keeping ward at one of those huge gates"
   • 6. an area of ground enclosed by the encircling walls of a fortress or castle. historical

   verb

   • 1. admit to or care for in a hospital ward: SE Asian "the last of the accident victims was warded"
   • 2. guard; protect: archaic "it was his duty to ward the king"

   Word Origin Old Englishweard (in ward (sense 5 of the noun), also ‘body of guards’), weardian ‘keep safe, guard’, of Germanic origin; reinforced in Middle English by Old Northern French warde (noun), warder (verb) ‘guard’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. wardship noun

   Scrabble Points: 8

   • W

     4

   • A

     1

   • R

     1

   • D

     2

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