rear guard Hear it!

rear guard definition

rear guard

a military detachment to protect the rear of a main force or body

Etymology: ME rier garde < Anglo-Fr reregard < OFr < riere, backward (< L retro: see retro-) + gard, guard

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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