Definition of "guardant" [guard•ant]

• Heraldry Positioned so that the head is turned toward the viewer. Used of an animal depicted so that its body is viewed from the side. (adjective)

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.

• "All that has been squeezed onto its reverse is the rear flanks of one lion passant guardant and the anus of another."
• "A waiter in full bloom appeared at the end of the passage, guardant."
• "At the feet an angel, with flowing black hair, and crowned, is represented rising from clouds, holding towards the recumbent figure a shield, on which the Priory Arms are embossed and illuminated: _Gules_, two lions _passant guardant: or_, two ducal coronets in chief."