| ward | 1. The act of guarding; watch; guard; guardianship; specifically, a guarding during the day. See the Note under Watch. "Still, when she slept, he kept both watch and ward." (Spenser) 2. One who, or that which, guards; garrison; defender; protector; means of guarding; defense; protection. "For the best ward of mine honor." (Shak) "The assieged castle's ward Their steadfast stands did mightily maintain." (Spenser) "For want of other ward, He lifted up his hand, his front to guard." (Dryden) 3. The state of being under guard or guardianship; confinement under guard; the condition of a child under a guardian; custody. "And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard." (Gen. Xl. 3) "I must attend his majesty's command, to whom I am now in ward." (Shak) "It is also inconvenient, in Ireland, that the wards and marriages of gentlemen's children should be in the disposal of any of those lords." (Spenser) 4. A guarding or defensive motion or position, as in fencing; guard. "Thou knowest my old ward; here I lay, and thus I bore my point." (Shak) 5. One who, or that which, is guarded. Specifically: A minor or person under the care of a guardian; as, a ward in chancery. "You know our father's ward, the fair Monimia." A division of a county. A division, district, or quarter of a town or city. "Throughout the trembling city placed a guard, Dealing an equal share to every ward." (Dryden) A division of a forest. A division of a hospital; as, a fever ward. 6. A projecting ridge of metal in the interior of a lock, to prevent the use of any key which has not a corresponding notch for passing it. A notch or slit in a key corresponding to a ridge in the lock which it fits; a ward notch. "The lock is made . . . More secure by attaching wards to the front, as well as to the back, plate of the lock, in which case the key must be furnished with corresponding notches." (Tomlinson) Ward penny, money paid to the sheriff or castellan for watching and warding a castle. Ward staff, a constable's or watchman's staff. Origin: AS. Weard, fem, guard, weard, asc, keeper, guard; akin to OS. Ward a watcher, warden, G. Wart, OHG. Wart, Icel. Vorr a warden, a watch, Goth. -wards in daorawards a doorkeeper, and E. Wary; cf. OF. Warde guard, from the German. See Ware, Wary, and cf. Guard, Wraith. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| Ward's triangle | An area of diminished density in the trabecular pattern of the neck of the femur evident by X-ray as well as by direct inspection. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Ward, Frederick | <person> British osteologist, 1818-1877. See: Ward's triangle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Ward, O | <person> 20th century paediatrician. See: Romano-Ward syndrome. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Ward-Romano syndrome | <syndrome> A prolonged Q-T interval in the electrocardiogram in children subject to attacks of unconsciousness that result from ventricular arrhythmias including ventricular fibrillation; autosomal dominant inheritance. Compare: Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome. Synonym: Ward-Romano syndrome. (05 Mar 2000) |
| warden | 1. A keeper; a guardian; a watchman. "He called to the warden on the . . . Battlements." (Sir. W. Scott) 2. An officer who keeps or guards; a keeper; as, the warden of a prison. 3. A head official; as, the warden of a college; specifically, a churchwarden. 4. [Properly, a keeping pear] A large, hard pear, chiefly used for baking and roasting. "I would have had him roasted like a warden." (Beau. & Fl) Warden pie, a pie made of warden pears. Origin: OE. Wardein, OF. Wardein, gardein, gardain, F. Gardien. See Guardian, and Ward guard. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| wardian | Designating, or pertaining to, a kind of glass inclosure for keeping ferns, mosses, etc, or for transporting growing plants from a distance; as, a Wardian case of plants; so named from the inventor, Nathaniel B. Ward, an Englishman. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Wardrop's disease | Acute onychia occurring spontaneously in debilitated patients, or in response to slight trauma. Synonym: Wardrop's disease. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Wardrop's method | Treatment of aneurysm by ligation of the artery at some distance beyond the sac, leaving one or more branches of the artery between the sac and the ligature. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Wardrop, James | <person> British surgeon, 1782-1869. See: Wardrop's disease, Wardrop's method. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ware | <botany> Seaweed. <zoology> Ware goose, the brant; so called because it feeds on ware, or seaweed. Origin: AS. War. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| warega fly | (Zool) A Brazilian fly whose larvae live in the skin of man and animals, producing painful sores. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| warehouseman | 1. One who keeps a warehouse; the owner or keeper of a dock warehouse or wharf store. 2. One who keeps a wholesale shop or store for Manchester or woolen goods. <medicine> Warehouseman's itch, a form of eczema occurring on the back of the hands of warehousemen. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| warehouseman's itch | Eczema of the hands from handling irritating substances. (05 Mar 2000) |
| warence | <botany> Madder. Origin: OF. Warance. F. Garance, LL. Warentia, garantia. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |