Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WARD, n.

1. Watch; act of guarding. Still when she slept, he kept both watch and ward. – Spenser.
2. Garrison; troops to defend a fort; as, small wards left in forts. [Not in use.] – Spenser.
3. Guard made by a weapon in fencing. For want of other ward, / He lifted up his hand his from to guard. – Dryden.
4. A fortress; a strong hold. – Shak.
5. One whose business is to guard, watch and defend; as, a fire-ward. A certain district, division or quarter of a town or city, committed to an alderman. There are twenty-six wards in London.
6. Custody; confinement under guard. Pharaoh put his butler and baker in ward. Gen. xl.
7. A minor or person under the care of a guardian. See Blackstone's chapter on the rights and duties of guardian and ward.
8. The state of a child under a guardian. I must attend his majesty's commands, to whom I am now in ward. – Shak.
9. Guardianship; right over orphans. It is inconvenient in Ireland, that the wards and marriages of gentlemen's children should be in the disposal of any of those lords. – Spenser.
10. The division of a forest.
11. The division of a hospital.
12. A part of a lock which corresponds to its proper key.