Link Centre Dictionary

lifeguard

li·fe·guard

US/ˈlaɪfˌɡɑɹd/ uncommon

noun

1.

an attendant employed at a beach or pool to protect swimmers from accidents

Synonyms

Origin

From life + guard, calque of Dutch lijfgarde, where life has the sense of Dutch lijf (“body”) (hence literally “bodyguard”). Compare German Leibgarde (“bodyguard”), Danish livgarde (“bodyguard”), Swedish livgarde (“bodyguard”). Compare also Old English līfweard (“guardian of life”).

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.