These words mean to preserve from harm, injury or attack. Protect is the most general term. It suggests from its etymology the providing of a covering or other barrier to ward off harm: to protect one’s hands from the cold with warm gloves; to protect a country from surprise attack by means of an air-raid-warning system. Guard is to protect with extreme care and watchfulness against actual or potential danger: to guard a prisoner; security police who guard the Prime Minister; to guard against hurting someone’s feelings.

Shield suggests even more strongly than protect that something, as in the manner of a knight’s shield , is placed between that which is to be protected and the source of anticipated harm or injury: to shield one’s face from blows with an upraised arm; shielding one’s eyes from strong light; over-protective parents who shield their children from disappointment or failure.

Safeguard implies that danger is not yet present and may even be remote, but that planning against its eventuality is prudent and farseeing.

• Vaccination safeguards us from smallpox; Saving money regularly during one’s working years will help to safeguard one’s old age from want.

Defend emphasizes present danger and means to protect by the use of force or other counter-measures.

• The Anzacs fought to defend our liberties; Every child must learn to defend himself, when necessary, against the bullying of other children.

By extension, defend means also to uphold or vindicate actions, opinions, decisions, etc., against censure, punishment or unfriendly criticism: to defend one’s right to hold certain political views; to defend the reputation of a wrongly accused man; a lawyer defending his client in court. Defend , guard and shield are not as complete in indicating success in warding off harm as is protect . One may guard , shield or defend a person or thing in vain, but that which one protects tends to be secure and safe.

Shelter and harbour both mean to protect by offering or by simply being a place of refuge or safety. Shelter is usually applied to providing cover from inclement weather or actual physical danger or attack.

• Sheltered from harsh weather and natural enemies in his mother’s pouch, the baby kangaroo waits until he is big enough to venture out on his own; they were sheltered from the rifle fire by a huge boulder.

Shelter can also, as does shield , convey the idea of protecting in a manner that serves to inhibit or keep in a state of ignorance: The Victorians believed in sheltering young girls and women from sexual knowledge and from other "evils." Harbour almost always has connotations that are unfavourable or that may even suggest illegality improperly sterilized operating rooms that harbour germs; to harbour a fugitive from justice. In its figurative use, harbour points to a cherishing in the mind, often secretly, of thoughts, motivations, plans, etc., that are unacceptable or hostile: to harbour grudges; to harbour a ruthless ambition that in due time may be realized.

SEE; nurse, pamper.