protect

heaven protects children, sailors, and drunken men

proverb A phrase used to explain how these vulnerable groups are able to avoid harm. Of course heaven protects children, sailors, and drunken men—how do you think Billy's managed to avoid hurting himself when he rides his bike so recklessly?
See also: and, drunken, heaven, men, protect

protect (someone, something, or oneself) from (someone or something)

To guard, defend, or inoculate someone, something, or oneself against someone or something else. I know you want to protect your kids from injury, but you can't keep them cut off from the real world either. Tourists are being advised to protect themselves from pickpockets in the city center.
See also: protect

protect against (someone or something)

1. To guard, defend, or inoculate against someone or something. This vaccine protects against the flu for the entire winter. We need to invest in top-of-the-line security software to protect against cyber attacks. The walls of the encampment were fortified and lined with spears to protect against invaders.
2. To guard, defend, or inoculate someone, something, or oneself against someone or something else. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "protect" and "against." I know you want to protect your kids against injury, but you can't keep them cut off from the real world either. Tourists are being advised to protect themselves against pickpockets in the city center.
See also: protect
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Heaven protects children(, sailors,) and drunken men.

Prov. Children(, sailors,) and drunk(ard)s often escape being injured in dangerous situations. (Often used to express amazement that a child, sailor, or drunk person has escaped injury.) Jill: Did you hear? A little girl fell out of a second-floor window in our apartment building. Jane: Was she killed? Jill: She wasn't even hurt. Jane: Heaven protects children, sailors, and drunken men. Mike was so drunk he shouldn't even have been conscious, but he managed to drive home without hurting himself or anyone else; heaven protects children and drunkards.
See also: and, children, drunken, heaven, men, protect

protect someone or something against someone or something

 and protect someone or something from someone or something
to shield or preserve someone or something against someone or something. Please come along and protect us against muggers as we walk home. What will protect my car against thieves?
See also: protect
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • teach a man to fish
  • it takes a village
  • village
  • a woman's work is never done
  • casu consulto
  • tomorrow never comes
  • a burnt child dreads the fire
  • burnt
  • beggar (all) description
  • beggar description
References in periodicals archive
THE SPEECH CLAUSE protects almost all political and artistic expression.
The first amendment: a user's guide the most famous words in the constitution protect a host of rights for Americans--and still spur debate after 215 years
A prenuptial agreement, however, does not always protect your assets from the new spouse.
Protecting your assets: your life is complicated enough. Here are some ways to put your mind at ease
CyberAngel charges education customers $47.95 annually to protect a single laptop and $95.90 for a three-year contract.
Protecting campus data: portability can have its price. Here's how IT managers deal with stolen laptops
It has the potential to protect us from our own clumsiness.
The great firewall of cyberspace: are our efforts at prevention worth the crime?
Internal Deployment -- Though your perimeter is probably adequately protected using a variety of technologies such as firewalls, anti-virus, IDS and IPS, none of these products are addressing (or were designed to address) the attacks that occur internally.
The threat from within: the evolution of cyber attacks
If the ball is centered up and then passed again from the top of the key to the wing on either side, the current "Basket-Man" (X2) would again come out to take the next two perimeter passes, with the current "Ball-Man" (X1) again dropping quickly to protect the basket.
Transition breakdown drill: a "3 on 2" to "2 on 1" (focus on defense)
Halligan urges officers, directors and top managers to involve themselves actively with trade secret management and security to avoid both civil and criminal liability, as well as shareholder derivative suits for breach of the fiduciary duty to protect intellectual property assets.
Compliance: trade secrets now open door to liability
Even files lost accidentally are protected from individuals other than users with rights in the Active Directory.
HitachiSoft and Microsoft Announce Joint Sales, Product Development Operations; "Rights Core for HIBUN" Joint RMS Solution Released
Try using Excel's Protection; it can hide underlying formulas and protect them from any attempted change.
Hide and protect formulas in Excel
And while Congress crafts privacy legislation for the nation, California businesses are bound by the nation's most stringent privacy protection laws, SB 1386 and AB 1950, which require companies to take reasonable measures to regularly protect the data on computers and networks.
Healthy computing: feed your computer a steady diet of secure software
* A number of celebrities have had various body parts insured to protect against injury or illness.
Body guards: a growing number of celebrities are protecting their livelihoods by insuring their physical assets
Navy and Coast Guard forces also protect the offshore loading platforms that are used to export Iraqi oil by ship through the Persian Gulf.
The Carter Doctrine goes global
But, as a biological powerhouse, Peru also has to protect its natural wealth.
Call in the plant cops
To better protect confidentiality, OHRP and IRBs should develop and implement "best practice" techniques to protect privacy and confidentiality.
Constance F. Citro, Daniel R. Iglen and Cora B. Marrett (Eds.), Protecting Participants and Facilitating Social and Behavioral Sciences Research
I had cited people for violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that the US signed with Great Britain in 1917, on behalf of Canada, to protect 212 species of birds that migrated between Canada and the United States each year.
From Jim Beers re children and ducklings