ward

noun

1. a division or district of a city or town, as for administrative or political purposes.
2. one of the districts into which certain English and Scottish boroughs are divided.
3. a division, floor, or room of a hospital for a particular class or group of patients: a convalescent ward; a critical ward.
4. any of the separate divisions of a prison.
5. a political subdivision of a parish in Louisiana.
6. Mormon Church. one of the subdivisions of a stake, presided over by a bishop.
7. Fortification. an open space within or between the walls of a castle or fortified place: the castle’s lower ward.
8. Law.
   1. a person, especially a minor, who has been legally placed under the care of a guardian or a court.
   2. the state of being under the care or control of a legal guardian.
   3. guardianship over a minor or some other person legally incapable of managing his or her own affairs.
9. the state of being under restraining guard or in custody.
10. a person who is under the protection or control of another.
11. a movement or posture of defense, as in fencing.
12. a curved ridge of metal inside a lock, forming an obstacle to the passage of a key that does not have a corresponding notch.
13. the notch or slot in the bit of a key into which such a ridge fits.
14. the act of keeping guard or protective watch: watch and ward.
15. Archaic. a company of guards or a garrison.