Wiktionary
n. A guard on the front of a weapon for hand and finger protection, or to allow for attachments to the weapon.
Wikipedia
A handguard on firearms is a guard attached to the front of a firearm to grip the weapon from the front. It allows the user protection from the barrel, which may become very hot when firing. It also gives room for more attachments to the weapon itself, such as an M203 grenade launcher.
A handguard (also known as the quillons, crossguard or crosstree) is also a part of a sword or knife that is just above the handle. It protects the wielder's hands from an opponent's blade should it happen to slide down the blade.
Usage examples of "handguard".
He identified the gems-here was a plump ruby on each handguard, there an array of emeralds around the base of the hilt, in the middle of the handgrip a huge diamond!
I could set my lance in it with the handguard, or vamplate, ahead of the notch.
The gleaming blade was a perfect isosceles triangle, five inches from handguard to point and two inches wide at the handguard.
At the left hung his sword, a beautiful blade of the best steel with the handguard worked in the form of a dragon, and at the right, the silver dagger that branded him as a dishonored man.
He threw his javelins into the cart first, then slowly and reluctantly drew his sword, a beautiful blade of the finest steel, with a handguard worked in the shape of the dragon of Aberwyn.
The guard already had his knife out, a nasty-looking serrated weapon with a handguard consisting of a series of thick, needle-sharp spikes alternatively curving up and down from the base of the blade.
The movement brought her up against his belted knife, and she winced as the needle-sharp spikes of the handguard dug briefly into her ribs.
Matsui extended to Sano a metal handguard with attached chain-mail sleeve, his voice dropped to a reverent whisper.
Using the heavy handguard like a knuckle-duster, she cracked him several times across the head.
Reisling machine pistol with five of the twenty-cartridge magazines and the commando knife with the spikes on the handguard and fountain-pen tear-gas gun.
The handle was sheathed with maple wood and the pommel and handguard were of steel.
The knife he picked was one of a row of an identical dozen, lying in the glass case in a jumbled mass of whistles, insignia rings and shoulder patches, brass bound clasp knives with five-inch snap-button blades and walnut handles that terminated in little handguards that the blades passed between in closing.
They could also be used as handguards, making it possible to foil or grip the blade of a striking sword.
Strands of sparkling gold and pearls were laced through the women’s hair and hung around their throats on intricate chains, while the men wore embroidered scabbards, with the filigree handguards often held by a deceptively casual hand.