guard vs hedge

guard

noun
  • A person who, or thing that, protects or watches over something. 

  • A state of caution; posture of defence. 

  • Something worn to protect part of the body, e.g. the shins in cricket. 

  • Either of two offensive positions between the centre and each of the offensive tackles, whose main responsibilities are to protect the quarterback, and open up "holes" through which offensive players can run. 

  • A player playing a position named guard. 

  • A relatively short player, playing farther from the basket than a forward or centre. 

  • A squad responsible for protecting something. 

  • The position on the popping crease where a batsman makes a mark to align himself with the wicket; see take guard. 

  • A watchchain. 

  • The aircraft emergency frequency, a radio frequency reserved for emergency communications, typically 121.5MHz for civilian use. 

  • A part of a machine which blocks access to dangerous parts. 

  • A panel of a car that encloses the wheel area, especially the front wheels. 

  • A garda; a police officer. 

  • The part of a sword that protects the wielder's hand. 

  • A ground grappling position in which one combatant has their back to the ground while attempting to control the other combatant using their legs. 

  • A Boolean expression that must evaluate to true for a branch of program execution to continue. 

  • An employee, normally travelling in the last vehicle of a train, responsible for the safety of the train. 

verb
  • To fasten by binding; to gird. 

  • To keep watch over, in order to prevent escape or restrain from acts of violence, or the like. 

  • To protect the edge of, especially with an ornamental border; hence, to face or ornament with lists, laces, etc. 

  • To protect from danger; to secure against surprise, attack, or injury; to keep in safety; to defend. 

  • To watch by way of caution or defense; to be caution; to be in a state or position of defense or safety. 

hedge

noun
  • A barrier (often consisting of a line of persons or objects) to protect someone or something from harm. 

  • Contract or arrangement reducing one's exposure to risk (for example the risk of price movements or interest rate movements). 

  • A mound of earth, stone- or turf-faced, often topped with bushes, used as a fence between any two portions of land. 

  • Used attributively, with figurative indication of a person's upbringing, or professional activities, taking place by the side of the road; third-rate. 

  • A thicket of bushes or other shrubbery, especially one planted as a fence between two portions of land, or to separate the parts of a garden. 

  • A non-committal or intentionally ambiguous statement. 

verb
  • To obstruct or surround. 

  • To offset the risk associated with. 

  • To construct or repair a hedge. 

  • To enclose with a hedge or hedges. 

  • To reduce one's exposure to risk. 

  • To avoid verbal commitment. 

How often have the words guard and hedge occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )