Adjacent Words

rearguard definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a detachment assigned to protect the rear of a (retreating) military body

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 1898 of or relating to resistance especially to sweeping social forces <fought a rearguard action against automation>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a body of troops detached to protect the rear, esp. in retreats. 2 a defensive or conservative element in an organization etc. Phrases and idioms: rearguard action 1 Mil. an engagement undertaken by a rearguard. 2 a defensive stand in argument etc., esp. when losing. Etymology: OF rereguarde (as RETRO-, GUARD)

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. In a battle, the rearguard is a group of soldiers who protect the back part of an army, especially when the army is leaving the battle. N-SING: the N 2. If someone is fighting a rearguard action or mounting a rearguard action, they are trying very hard to prevent something from happening, even though it is probably too late for them to succeed. (JOURNALISM) Mr Urban looks increasingly like someone fighting a rearguard action to keep their job. PHRASE: V inflects