"guarding" in the verb sense
1. guard
to keep watch over
"there would be men guarding the horses"
2. guard, ward
watch over or shield from danger or harm protect
"guard my possessions while I'm away"
3. defend, guard, hold
protect against a challenge or attack
"Hold that position behind the trees!"
"Hold the bridge against the enemy's attacks"
4. guard
take precautions in order to avoid some unwanted consequence
"guard against becoming too friendly with the staff"
"guard against infection"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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