protectingly

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pro·tect

(prə-tĕkt′)

tr.v. pro·tect·ed, pro·tect·ing, pro·tects

a. To keep from being damaged, attacked, stolen, or injured; guard. See Synonyms at defend.

b. To keep from being subjected to difficulty or unpleasantness: a mother who wanted to protect her children from the troubles she had seen when growing up.

c. To keep from being curtailed or exposed to risk: The reporter vowed to protect the privacy of his sources.

2. To help (domestic industry) with tariffs or quotas on imported goods.

3. To assure payment of (drafts or notes, for example) by setting aside funds.

4. Sports To attempt to hold (a lead) by playing careful defense and avoiding risky plays.

5. Baseball

a. To swing at a pitch near (home plate) in order to avoid being called out on strikes.

b. To swing at a pitch so as to give (a base runner) a better chance of advancing.

[Middle English protecten, from Latin prōtegere, prōtēct- : prō-, in front; see pro-¹ + tegere, to cover; see (s)teg- in Indo-European roots.]

pro·tect′ing·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

protectingly

(prəˈtɛktɪŋlɪ )

adv

in a protective manner

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

References in classic literature ?

She shrank against him, clingingly and protectingly, and he laughed with surety.

View in context

The two men held Mimi between them, the arms of both of them round her as though protectingly. As they went, there was a sudden rise in the ground; but the horses, breathing heavily, dashed up it at racing speed, not slackening their pace when the hill fell away again, leaving them to hurry along the downgrade.

View in context

Just on the crest, where Spofford Avenue petered out into a plain road, was a little white frame house with groups of pines on either side of it, stretching their arms protectingly over its low roof.