rearguard

English

Alternative forms

• rear guard, rear-guard

Etymology

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

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”, 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

Translations

the rearmost part of a force

• Catalan: rereguarda (ca) f
• Dutch: achterhoede (nl)
• French: arrière-garde (fr) f
• German: Nachhut (de) f

• Latvian: arjergards (lv) m
• Maori: whakatautopenga (mi)
• Norwegian: baktropp (no) m
• Russian: арьергард (ru) (ar'jergárd) m