home guard
1
5.9
- noun
- UK
:
guardia local
- During the conflict, the local home guard organized neighborhood patrols to ensure safety.
Examples
-
She joined the home guard to help protect her community while the regular army was deployed.
-
I got orders to report to the home guard.
-
Would they let me in the home guard?
-
And I'm reporting to the home guard tonight.
-
Those enlisted in the Norwegian home guard will have access to automatic firearms in their homes.
Blog text (22) -
With the reb cavalry heading this way... ...I'm assigned to organize the home guard.
-
Indeed, Sweden has left the crucial island of Gotland, situated in the middle of the Baltic Sea, defended only by a home guard unit.
Academic text (2015) -
By threatening, subverting, and terrorizing the local police, home guard, and government administrative apparatuses, the communists made certain there was no permanent security within the villages.
Academic text (1994) -
The home guard played a vital role in defending the town during the war.
Synonyms
553
5.8
An organized group of ordinary people who act as soldiers in emergencies
How Official
5
3.0
- Formal
152
3.7
- UK
1
5.9
553
5.8
1
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning ('a guard/unit protecting the homeland') is directly derivable from combining 'home' (place of residence/homeland) with 'guard' (person/unit that protects). This is a straightforward noun+noun compounding pattern common across languages and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The phrase home guard comes from local people who stayed at home to guard their towns when the regular army was away. That's why it now means a group of local volunteers who 'protect' their area during a war.