ward penny

1 definition found

ward penny - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Ward \Ward\, n. [AS. weard, fem., guard, weard, masc., keeper,
     guard; akin to OS. ward a watcher, warden, G. wart, OHG.
     wart, Icel. v["o]r[eth]r a warden, a watch, Goth. -wards in
     da['u]rawards a doorkeeper, and E. wary; cf. OF. warde guard,
     from the German. See Ware, a., Wary, and cf. Guard,
     Wraith.]
     1. The act of guarding; watch; guard; guardianship;
        specifically, a guarding during the day. See the Note
        under Watch, n., 1.
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              Still, when she slept, he kept both watch and ward.
                                                    --Spenser.
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     2. One who, or that which, guards; garrison; defender;
        protector; means of guarding; defense; protection.
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              For the best ward of mine honor.      --Shak.
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              The assieged castle's ward
              Their steadfast stands did mightily maintain.
                                                    --Spenser.
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              For want of other ward,
              He lifted up his hand, his front to guard. --Dryden.
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     3. The state of being under guard or guardianship;
        confinement under guard; the condition of a child under a
        guardian; custody.
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              And he put them in ward in the house of the captain
              of the guard.                         --Gen. xl. 3.
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              I must attend his majesty's command, to whom I am
              now in ward.                          --Shak.
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              It is also inconvenient, in Ireland, that the wards
              and marriages of gentlemen's children should be in
              the disposal of any of those lords.   --Spenser.
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     4. A guarding or defensive motion or position, as in fencing;
        guard. "Thou knowest my old ward; here I lay, and thus I
        bore my point." --Shak.
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     5. One who, or that which, is guarded. Specifically: 
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        (a) A minor or person under the care of a guardian; as, a
            ward in chancery. "You know our father's ward, the
            fair Monimia." --Otway.
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        (b) A division of a county. [Eng. & Scot.]
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        (c) A division, district, or quarter of a town or city.
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                  Throughout the trembling city placed a guard,
                  Dealing an equal share to every ward. --Dryden.
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        (d) A division of a forest. [Eng.]
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        (e) A division of a hospital; as, a fever ward.
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     6.
        (a) A projecting ridge of metal in the interior of a lock,
            to prevent the use of any key which has not a
            corresponding notch for passing it.
        (b) A notch or slit in a key corresponding to a ridge in
            the lock which it fits; a ward notch. --Knight.
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                  The lock is made . . . more secure by attaching
                  wards to the front, as well as to the back,
                  plate of the lock, in which case the key must be
                  furnished with corresponding notches.
                                                    --Tomlinson.
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     Ward penny (O. Eng. Law), money paid to the sheriff or
        castellan for watching and warding a castle.
  
     Ward staff, a constable's or watchman's staff. [Obs.]
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