Protection

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·noun That which protects or preserves from injury; a defense; a shield; a refuge.

II. Protection ·noun A writing that protects or secures from molestation or arrest; a pass; a safe-conduct; a passport.

III. Protection ·noun The act of protecting, or the state of being protected; preservation from loss, injury, or annoyance; defense; shelter; as, the weak need protection.

IV. Protection ·noun A theory, or a policy, of protecting the producers in a country from foreign competition in the home market by the imposition of such discriminating duties on goods of foreign production as will restrict or prevent their importation;

— opposed to free trade.