Thesaurus results for REARGUARD

rear guard

noun

Definition of rear guard

as in firing squad

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of rear guard Optional extras include alarm/geolocation, a retractable rear guard rail, a canopy, and custom setups for family or cargo. — New Atlas, 6 July 2026 Any suggestions that Lionel Messi’s presence at the 2026 World Cup might be diminished crumbled on Tuesday night with Algeria’s rear guard. — Ian Nicholas Quillen, Forbes.com, 17 June 2026 The north was expected to be America’s rear guard, a place where values like democracy and women’s rights might have taken hold. — Azam Ahmed, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2024 And assassins from a coalition of all the local indigenous tribes — out for blood over the murder of Jimmy the Creek, one of their own, last episode — slit the throats of Ming’s rear guard. — Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2024 General Fran Sigel was assigned as rear guard for forces moving through town. — Randy McCrory, Arkansas Online, 3 Aug. 2023 By the 1990s, NHTSA had finally adopted a regulation requiring tougher rear guards. — A.c. Thompson, ProPublica, 13 June 2023 The capelin rear guard, sensing danger, rose off the bottom in a great fleeing cloud. — Robert Kunzig, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019 Indeed, Dnipropetrovsk has been a key rear guard for the Ukrainian military and National Guard. — Taras Kuzio, Foreign Affairs, 25 Jan. 2015

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rear guard

Noun

Out of public sight The planned execution by firing squad is of Nidal Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, who killed 13 people and wounded 32 in 2009.

— Nate Perez, NPR, 16 Oct. 2026
Eight days later, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gleefully invited the nation to tune in, via live stream, for the death by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, scheduled for December 3rd.

— Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of firing squad

Noun

Those features could help officers reach locations that conventional patrol vehicles cannot easily access.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 21 Oct. 2026
The patrol vehicle’s emergency lights and sirens were activated, and the officers tried to pull over the Nissan near 44th Street and 14th Avenue.

— Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of patrol

Noun

The Binyamin Regional Council, an Israeli governmental body responsible for settlements in the area of the clashes, said the Palestinian Authority had sent activists to deliberately provoke residents of the Israeli settlement outpost near Abu Falah.

— Dov Lieber, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
Amid the hustle and bustle of Shanghai, Samuel Gui Yang has created a quiet alcove as the Chinese brand’s first retail outpost.

— Denni Hu, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of outpost

Noun

The three biggest selling watches were the Hermès Clipper, followed by the Cartier Panthère and the Gucci Interchangeable Bezel.

— Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2026
The new Super Chronomat watch duo is just the latest collab from Breitling and Aston Martin.

— Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of watch

Noun

Students sitting with arms linked at the elbows could only see in shards through a picket of shin guards, restricting their view of the area where classmates and roommates were dragged one by one and zip-tied face down on the spring grass.

— Sophie Landres, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
For wooden privacy fencing, the community’s guidelines specify a shadow-box style with dog-ear pickets and require the fence to have the same appearance from both sides.

— Nora O'Neill, Charlotte Observer, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of picket

Noun

Some of them have panoramic views of white windmills, which dot the coastline of the Taiwan Strait like slender sentries.

— Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
And Ric Salinas, who plays Chachalacani, humorously obliges, bringing his Culture Clash vaudeville skills to the role of the sentry who’s caught between the rock of Klion’s tyranny and his fellow feeling for Antíkona’s sympathetic cause.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of sentry

Browse Nearby Words

rear ends

rear guard

rear guards

See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

Style

“Rear guard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rear%20guard. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of rear guard

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

jilt

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes