rearguard

rearguard

See also: rear-guard

English

Alternative forms

• rear guard, rear-guard

Etymology

rear +‎ guard. Attested in The Song of Roland circa 1150 (rereguarde). Doublet of retrogarde.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪəɹˌɡɑɹd/

Noun

rearguard (plural rearguards)

1. (military) The rearmost part of a force, especially a detachment of troops that protect the rear of a retreating force.
2. (soccer) The defence, collectively the defenders.
   • 2011 January 22, Phil McNulty, “Aston Villa 1 - 0 Man City”, in BBC‎:

     Mancini's side only showed enough ambition when it was too late and by then battle lines were drawn as James Collins and former City captain Richard Dunne fought a magnificent rearguard action at the heart of Villa's defence.

Usage notes

• Usually used attributively.

Antonyms

• vanguard

Coordinate terms

• (rearmost part of a troop): backstop

Derived terms

• rearguard action

Translations

the rearmost part of a force

Bulgarian: ариергард m (ariergard) Catalan: rereguarda f Dutch: achterhoede (nl) Finnish: jälkijoukko French: arrière-garde (fr) f German: Nachhut (de) f Greek: οπισθοφυλακή (el) f (opisthofylakí) Ancient: οὐραγία f (ouragía), ὀπισθοφύλακες m pl (opisthophúlakes) Hebrew: מְאַסֵּף‎ (he) m (measéf) Latvian: arjergards m Macedonian: заштитница f (zaštitnica) Maori: whakatautopenga, pūmanawa, hiku Norwegian: baktropp m Polish: ariergarda (pl) f, straż tylna (pl) f Russian: арьерга́рд (ru) m (arʹjergárd) Spanish: retaguardia (es) f Turkish: artçı (tr), dümdar (tr) Vietnamese: đạo quân hậu tập

soccer: defence

Bulgarian: защита (bg) f (zaštita) Finnish: puolustus (fi)