Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A river or har bor police; customs officers detailed to watch ships in order to prevent smuggling or other violations of law.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Always our first business at the end of a day's trek was to ride away and look for the railway station, with its one solitary hut and the half-dozen tents occupied by the water-guard.

    With Our Army in Palestine Antony Bluett

  • At the depot, he persuaded the water-guard to let him fill his water-bottle, and then, while the

    The Tale of a Trooper 1930

  • Like as not, St. Austell Bay would be patrolled by half a dozen man-of-war's boats in addition to the water-guard: and this meant Dan'l's losing the lugger, losing his life too, maybe, or at the least being made prisoner.

    Merry-Garden and Other Stories Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch 1903

  • I should have had the riding officers, and the water-guard, and a revenue cruiser in the offing, and all tight and regular.

    The Light of Scarthey Egerton Castle 1889

  • No. The preventive are a lubberly lot -- It will require something better than a water-guard to track and take Lucky Jack Smith!

    The Light of Scarthey Egerton Castle 1889

  • Our best defence is unquestionably our water-guard, which is very strong, and will, I trust, every day get stronger.

    Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George the Third, Volume 2 (of 2) From the Original Family Documents Richard Plantagenet Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville Buckingham and Chandos 1829

  • About this time, the Roost experienced a vast accession of warlike importance, in being made one of the stations of the water-guard.

    Wolfert's Roost and Miscellanies Washington Irving 1821

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