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or shield from danger or injury; to defend; to guard; to preserve in safety; as, a father protects his children. The gods of Greece protect you! Shak.

By way of protection; in a protective manner.

The act of protecting, or the state of being protected; preservation from loss, injury, or annoyance; defense; shelter; as, the weak need protection. To your protection I commend me, gods. Shak.

The doctrine or policy of protectionists. See Protection, 4.

One who favors protection. See Protection, 4.

Affording protection; sheltering; defensive. " The favor of a protective Providence." Feltham. Protective coloring (Zoöl.), coloring which serves for the concealment and preservation of a living organism. Cf. Mimicry. Wallace. -- Protective tariff (Polit. Econ.), a tariff designed to secure protection (see Protection,…

The quality or state of being protective. W. Pater.

ds from injury, evil, oppression, etc.; a defender; a guardian; a patron. For the world's protector shall be known. Waller.

Of or pertaining to a protector; protectorial; as, protectoral power.

Government by a protector; -- applied especially to the government of England by Oliver Cromwell.

Same as Protectoral.

Having no protector; unprotected.

, The office of a protector or regent; protectorate.

A woman who protects.

A secret organization in the United States, formed in Iowa in 1887, ostensibly for the protection of American institutions by keeping Roman Catholics out of public office. Abbrev. commonly to A. P .A.

nders, as at the beginning of a new reign. -- Act of indemnity, a statute passed for the protection of those who have committed some illegal act subjecting them to penalties. Abbott. -- Act in pais, a thing done out of court (anciently, in the country), and not a matter of record.

ght in a court of justice; in a broad sense, a judicial proceeding for the enforcement or protection of a right, the redress or prevention of a wrong, or the punishment of a public offense.

nt benefice or living in the church. [Originally, the relation of a patron (advocatus) or protector of a benefice, and thus privileged to nominate or present to it.]

A shield or protective armor; -- applied in mythology to the shield of Jupiter which he gave to Minerva. Also fig.: A shield; a protection.

bead (Arch.), a bead worked on or fixed to the angle of any architectural work, esp. for protecting an angle of a wall. -- Angle brace, Angle tie (Carp.), a brace across an interior angle of a wooden frame, forming the hypothenuse and securing the two side pieces together. Knight. -- Angle iron (Mach.), a rolled bar…