on guard

English

Alternative forms

• on-guard

Pronunciation

• Audio (Mid-Atlantic US):

  (file)

Adjective

on guard (comparative more on guard, superlative most on guard)

1. (fencing) The starting position of a fencing bout; en garde.
   • 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque:

     We fall on guard, and after all it is a friend who comes to meet us.

2. Vigilant, alert.
3. (aviation) Transmitting on the aircraft emergency frequency.

Antonyms

• off guard

Translations

on alert, vigilant

• French: en garde (fr)
• Maori: whakahiwa
• Polish: no equivalent term in Polish, but see mieć się na baczności (pl) impf

Anagrams

• Durango, Garduno, Guadron, aground