To secure or protect by precautionary measures. Now chiefly U.S.

intransitive. To prepare for war or combat with; to take offensive, defensive, or precautionary measures in response to.

transitive †To take effectual precautions against, prevent (danger, an undesirable outcome, etc.); to prevent (a person) from doing something…

transitive. To take precautions against (something); to guard against. Obsolete. rare.

intransitive. To make an effort, strive or try to do something; to make a shift; to take precautions against. Scottish and dialect.