guard vs secure

guard

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

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

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. 

secure

verb
  • To make safe; to relieve from apprehensions of, or exposure to, danger; to guard; to protect. 

  • To make fast; to close or confine effectually; to render incapable of getting loose or escaping. 

  • To get possession of; to make oneself secure of; to acquire certainly. 

  • To put beyond hazard of losing or of not receiving; to make certain; to assure; frequently with against or from, or formerly with of. 

adj
  • Free from the danger of theft; safe. 

  • Certain to be achieved or gained; assured. 

  • Free from attack or danger; protected. 

  • Free from the risk of eavesdropping, interception or discovery; secret. 

  • Confident in opinion; not entertaining, or not having reason to entertain, doubt; certain; sure; commonly used with of. 

  • Free from anxiety or doubt; unafraid. 

  • Free from the risk of financial loss; reliable. 

  • Firm and not likely to fail; stable. 

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