Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Ward \Ward\, v. i.
   1. To be vigilant; to keep guard.

   2. To act on the defensive with a weapon.

            She redoubling her blows drove the stranger to no
            other shift than to ward and go back. --Sir P.
                                                  Sidney.

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}.]
   1. To keep in safety; to watch; to guard; formerly, in a
      specific sense, to guard during the day time.

            Whose gates he found fast shut, no living wight To
            ward the same.                        --Spenser.

   2. To defend; to protect.

            Tell him it was a hand that warded him From thousand
            dangers.                              --Shak.

   3. To defend by walls, fortifications, etc. [Obs.]

   4. To fend off; to repel; to turn aside, as anything
      mischievous that approaches; -- usually followed by off.

            Now wards a felling blow, now strikes again.
                                                  --Daniel.

            The pointed javelin warded off his rage. --Addison.

            It instructs the scholar in the various methods of
            warding off the force of objections.  --I. Watts.

Ward \Ward\, n. [AS. weard, fem., guard, weard, masc., keeper,
   guard; akin to OS. ward a watcher, warden, G. wart, OHG.
   wart, Icel. v["o]r[eth]r a warden, a watch, Goth. -wards in
   da['u]rawards a doorkeeper, and E. wary; cf. OF. warde guard,
   from the German. See {Ware}, a., {Wary}, and cf. {Guard},
   {Wraith}.]
   1. The act of guarding; watch; guard; guardianship;
      specifically, a guarding during the day. See the Note
      under {Watch}, n., 1.

            Still, when she slept, he kept both watch and ward.
                                                  --Spenser.

   2. One who, or that which, guards; garrison; defender;
      protector; means of guarding; defense; protection.

            For the best ward of mine honor.      --Shak.

            The assieged castle's ward Their steadfast stands
            did mightily maintain.                --Spenser.

            For want of other ward, He lifted up his hand, his
            front to guard.                       --Dryden.

   3. The state of being under guard or guardianship;
      confinement under guard; the condition of a child under a
      guardian; custody.

            And he put them in ward in the house of the captain
            of the guard.                         --Gen. xl. 3.

            I must attend his majesty's command, to whom I am
            now in ward.                          --Shak.

            It is also inconvenient, in Ireland, that the wards
            and marriages of gentlemen's children should be in
            the disposal of any of those lords.   --Spenser.

   4. A guarding or defensive motion or position, as in fencing;
      guard. ``Thou knowest my old ward; here I lay, and thus I
      bore my point.'' --Shak.

   5. One who, or that which, is guarded. Specifically:
      (a) A minor or person under the care of a guardian; as, a
          ward in chancery. ``You know our father's ward, the
          fair Monimia.'' --Otway.
      (b) A division of a county. [Eng. & Scot.]
      (c) A division, district, or quarter of a town or city.

                Throughout the trembling city placed a guard,
                Dealing an equal share to every ward. --Dryden.
      (d) A division of a forest. [Eng.]
      (e) A division of a hospital; as, a fever ward.

   6.
      (a) A projecting ridge of metal in the interior of a lock,
          to prevent the use of any key which has not a
          corresponding notch for passing it.
      (b) A notch or slit in a key corresponding to a ridge in
          the lock which it fits; a ward notch. --Knight.

                The lock is made . . . more secure by attaching
                wards to the front, as well as to the back,
                plate of the lock, in which case the key must be
                furnished with corresponding notches.
                                                  --Tomlinson.

Source : WordNet®

ward
     n 1: a person who is under the protection or in the custody of
          another
     2: a district into which a city or town is divided for the
        purpose of administration and elections
     3: block forming a division of a hospital (or a suite of rooms)
        shared by patients who need a similar kind of care; "they
        put her in a 4-bed ward" [syn: {hospital ward}]
     4: English economist and conservationist (1914-1981) [syn: {Barbara
        Ward}, {Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth}]
     5: English writer of novels who was an active opponent of the
        women's suffrage movement (1851-1920) [syn: {Mrs. Humphrey
        Ward}, {Mary Augusta Arnold Ward}]
     6: United States businessman who in 1872 established a
        successful mail-order business (1843-1913) [syn: {Montgomery
        Ward}, {Asron Montgomery Ward}]
     7: a division of a prison (usually consisting of several cells)
        [syn: {cellblock}]

ward
     v : watch over or shield from danger or harm; protect; "guard my
         possessions while I'm away" [syn: {guard}]