Noun

The process of keeping (something or someone) safe.

:

*

*:But then I had the flintlock by me for protection . ¶ There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window.

The state of being safe.

A means of keeping or remaining safe.

A means, such as a condom, of preventing pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease.

(lb) Coverage.

Immunity from harm obtained by illegal payments, as bribery or extortion.

(lb) Restrictions on foreign competitors which limit their ability to compete with domestic producers of goods or services.

(lb) An instance of a security token associated with a resource (such as a file).

Noun

(en-noun)

(uncountable) Any substance that can be consumed by living organisms, especially by eating, in order to sustain life.

* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)

, chapter=1 citation , passage=“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
  Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= A punch in the gut , passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}

(countable) A foodstuff.

(uncountable, figuratively) Anything that nourishes or sustains.

Mozart and Bach are food for my soul.

* (and other bibiographic particulars) (William Shakespeare)

This may prove food to my displeasure.

* (and other bibiographic particulars) (William Wordsworth)

In this moment there is life and food / For future years.