From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Ward \Ward\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Warded; p. pr. & vb. n.
Warding.] [OE. wardien, AS. weardian to keep, protect; akin
to OS. ward?n to watch, take care, OFries. wardia, OHG.
wart?n, G. warten to wait, wait on, attend to, Icel. var?a to
guarantee defend, Sw. v[*a]rda to guard, to watch; cf. OF.
warder, of German origin. See Ward, n., and cf. Award,
Guard, Reward.]
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1. To keep in safety; to watch; to guard; formerly, in a
specific sense, to guard during the day time.
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Whose gates he found fast shut, no living wight
To ward the same. --Spenser.
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2. To defend; to protect.
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Tell him it was a hand that warded him
From thousand dangers. --Shak.
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3. To defend by walls, fortifications, etc. [Obs.]
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4. To fend off; to repel; to turn aside, as anything
mischievous that approaches; -- usually followed by off.
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Now wards a felling blow, now strikes again.
--Daniel.
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The pointed javelin warded off his rage. --Addison.
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It instructs the scholar in the various methods of
warding off the force of objections. --I. Watts.
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