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Definition of "ward" []

  • A division of a city or town, especially an electoral district, for administrative and representative purposes. (noun)
  • A district of some English and Scottish counties corresponding roughly to the hundred or the wapentake. (noun)
  • A room in a hospital usually holding six or more patients. (noun)
  • A division in a hospital for the care of a particular group of patients: a maternity ward. (noun)
  • One of the divisions of a penal institution, such as a prison. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "ward" in a sentence
  • "In explaining the term ward heeler, you described a heeler as “derived from a dog that a master brings to heel,” used to describe “a minor politician who slavishly followed his ward leader.”"
  • "She honestly does not know where all of her ward is at or at least the last time I talked to her she didn't."
  • "When I was at Oxford, each one of us had responsibility for three or four families in our congregation, which we call a ward."