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# protect

«protect» in Mova's school dictionary: **To keep someone or something safe from harm, danger or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (protect, protects, protected, protecting)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To keep someone or something safe from harm, danger or damage. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#m1)

2) To guard something so that it is not lost, taken or spoiled. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#m2)

3) Of a law or rule: to keep people's rights or a place safe by not allowing certain things. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In safety lessons it tells what keeps us from getting hurt: helmets protect heads, sunscreen protects skin, seat belts protect passengers. In science: skin, shells, fur and bones protect bodies; trees protect soil from wind. In stories a hero or parent protects the weak. Phrases: protect from, protect against, protect yourself, protected animals, protected area, protective clothing.

### examples

- A helmet protects your head if you fall off your bike. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#x1)
- Sunscreen protects your skin from the sun. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#x2)
- The mother bird protects her chicks from the cat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#x3)
- A turtle's shell protects its soft body. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#x4)
- Wear goggles to protect your eyes in the science lab. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#x5)
- Big brothers sometimes protect their little sisters at the playground. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#x6)
- The law protects wild birds, so you must not take their eggs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#x7)
- Gloves protect your hands from the cold. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#x8)
- Put the password on to protect your tablet. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#x9)
- Besides, Dorothy will need someone to protect her.” [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/#x10)

### note

Regular verb: protected, protecting. Usually «protect someone FROM or AGAINST something». The noun is «protection» (uncountable), the adjective «protective». Protecting is not the same as hiding: a coat protects you but you still go out. Not used in maths for numbers.

### In the corpora

- [Grown-ups worry about it too, and sometimes they switch it off to protect you and themselves.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/32-bad-news-protests-and-helping-others/1/)
- [Parents may switch off the news to protect children from scary pictures, and they worry about it themselves.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/32-bad-news-protests-and-helping-others/10/)
- [Influencers must say when a post is a paid advert; asking "is someone paid to say this?" protects you.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/48-famous-people-are-people/11/)
- [Many lorises are caught illegally for the pet trade and have their teeth pulled out; all lorises are protected by international law.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/95-the-nocturnal-house-night-animals-by-red-light/8/)
- [Giant anteaters walk on their knuckles to protect long front claws, which rip open hard termite mounds and can fight off a jaguar.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «protect» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protect/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.