Definition of "protect"

protect

/pɹəˈtɛkt/

verb
third-person singular simple present protects, present participle protecting, simple past and past participle protected
1. (transitive, intransitive) To keep safe; to defend; to guard; to prevent harm coming to.
  Quotations
  But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea.
  2012 March, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 2, page 87
2. (travel, aviation) To book a passenger on a later flight if there is a chance they will not be able to board their earlier reserved flight.