Watch
[wɒtʃ] or [wɑtʃ]
Definition
(noun.) a purposeful surveillance to guard or observe.
(noun.) a small portable timepiece.
(noun.) a period of time (4 or 2 hours) during which some of a ship's crew are on duty.
(noun.) the period during which someone (especially a guard) is on duty.
(verb.) observe with attention; 'They watched as the murderer was executed'.
(verb.) observe or determine by looking; 'Watch how the dog chases the cats away'.
(verb.) look attentively; 'watch a basketball game'.
(verb.) see or watch; 'view a show on television'; 'This program will be seen all over the world'; 'view an exhibition'; 'Catch a show on Broadway'; 'see a movie'.
(verb.) be vigilant, be on the lookout or be careful; 'Watch out for pickpockets!'.
(verb.) follow with the eyes or the mind; 'Keep an eye on the baby, please!'; 'The world is watching Sarajevo'; 'She followed the men with the binoculars'.
Edited by Eileen--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) The act of watching; forbearance of sleep; vigil; wakeful, vigilant, or constantly observant attention; close observation; guard; preservative or preventive vigilance; formerly, a watching or guarding by night.
(v. i.) One who watches, or those who watch; a watchman, or a body of watchmen; a sentry; a guard.
(v. i.) The post or office of a watchman; also, the place where a watchman is posted, or where a guard is kept.
(v. i.) The period of the night during which a person does duty as a sentinel, or guard; the time from the placing of a sentinel till his relief; hence, a division of the night.
(v. i.) A small timepiece, or chronometer, to be carried about the person, the machinery of which is moved by a spring.
(n.) An allotted portion of time, usually four hour for standing watch, or being on deck ready for duty. Cf. Dogwatch.
(n.) That part, usually one half, of the officers and crew, who together attend to the working of a vessel for an allotted time, usually four hours. The watches are designated as the port watch, and the starboard watch.
(v. i.) To be awake; to be or continue without sleep; to wake; to keep vigil.
(v. i.) To be attentive or vigilant; to give heed; to be on the lookout; to keep guard; to act as sentinel.
(v. i.) To be expectant; to look with expectation; to wait; to seek opportunity.
(v. i.) To remain awake with any one as nurse or attendant; to attend on the sick during the night; as, to watch with a man in a fever.
(v. i.) To serve the purpose of a watchman by floating properly in its place; -- said of a buoy.
(v. t.) To give heed to; to observe the actions or motions of, for any purpose; to keep in view; not to lose from sight and observation; as, to watch the progress of a bill in the legislature.
(v. t.) To tend; to guard; to have in keeping.
Editor: Lorna
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Vigil, watching, wakefulness, watchfulness, outlook.[2]. Inspection, observation, attention.[3]. Guard, sentry, watchman.[4]. Pocket timepiece.
v. n. [1]. Wake, be awake, keep awake, not be asleep.[2]. Keep guard, keep watch and ward, stand guard, be on guard, be on the watch, act as sentinel, be on the lookout, look sharp, keep a sharp lookout, have all one's eyes about one, mind one's P's and Q's.[3]. Wait, look, be expectant.
v. a. [1]. Guard, tend, attend, have in keeping.[2]. Mark, observe, eye, keep the eye on, keep an eye upon.
Checker: McDonald
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Wait, wake, contemplate, observe, note, tend, guard
ANT:Disregard, overlook, misobserve
Checked by Lanny
Definition
n. act of looking out: close observation: guard: one who watches or those who watch: a sentry: a pocket timepiece: the place where a guard is kept: a division of the night: time of watching esp. in a ship a division of a ship's crew into two or three sections so that one set of men may have charge of the vessel while the others rest. (The day and night are divided into watches of four hours each except the period from 4 to 8 P.M. which is divided into two dog-watches of two hours' duration each).—v.i. to look with attention: to keep guard: to look out: to attend the sick by night: to inspect keep guard over (with over).—v.t. to keep in view: to give heed to: to have in keeping: to guard: to wait for detect by lying in wait: (Shak.) to keep from sleep.—ns. Watch′-bill a list of the officers and crew of a ship as divided into watches with their several stations; Watch′-box a sentry-box; Watch′case the outer case of a watch: (Shak.) a sentry-box; Watch′-clock a watchman's clock; Watch′-dog a dog kept to guard premises and property; Watch′er one who watches; Watch′-fire a night-fire acting as a signal: a fire for the use of a watching-party sentinels scouts &c.—adj. Watch′ful careful to watch or observe: attentive: circumspect: cautious.—adv. Watch′fully.—ns. Watch′fulness; Watch′-glass a sand-glass: the glass covering of the face of a watch; Watch′-guard a watch-chain of any material; Watch′-gun a gun fired at the changing of the watch as on a ship; Watch′-house a house in which a guard is placed: a lock-up detaining office; Watch′-jew′el a jewel used in the works of a watch for lessening friction; Watch′-key a key for winding a watch; Watch′-light a light used for watching or sitting up in the night; Watch′-māk′er one who makes and repairs watches; Watch′-māk′ing; Watch′man a man who watches or guards esp. the streets of a city at night; Watch′-meet′ing a religious meeting to welcome in the New Year held on the night before called the Watch′-night; Watch′-off′icer the officer in charge of the ship during a watch also called Officer of the watch; Watch′-pā′per a round piece of paper often decorated put inside the outer case of a watch to prevent rubbing; Watch′-pock′et a small pocket for holding a watch; Watch′-spring the mainspring of a watch; Watch′-tow′er a tower on which a sentinel is placed to watch or keep guard against the approach of an enemy; Watch′word the password to be given to a watch or sentry: any signal: a maxim rallying-cry.—Watch and ward the old custom of watching by night and by day in towns and cities: uninterrupted vigilance.—The Black Watch the 42d and 73d Regiments now the 1st and 2d Battalions of the Black Watch or Royal Highlanders.
Checked by Bernadette
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of a watch, denotes you will be prosperous in well-directed speculations. To look at the time of one, your efforts will be defeated by rivalry. To break one, there will be distress and loss menacing you. To drop the crystal of one, foretells carelessness, or unpleasant companionship. For a woman to lose one, signifies domestic disturbances will produce unhappiness. To imagine you steal one, you will have a violent enemy who will attack your reputation. To make a present of one, denotes you will suffer your interest to decline in the pursuance of undignified recreations.
Typed by Alphonse
Examples
- Meantime, watch and pray that you enter not into temptation: the spirit, I trust, is willing, but the flesh, I see, is weak. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- So we kept our watch together in silence. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- All this time, as if a spell were on him, he was motionless and powerless, except to watch her. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Sir Percival hesitated and looked at his watch. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I have got them still--the watch goes beautifully. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- He has a watch and a chain and a ring and a breast-pin and a handsome suit of clothes. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- I had never heard of the institution, and my face must have proclaimed as much, for Sherlock Holmes pulled out his watch. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- Miss Kate took out her sketch again, and Margaret watched her, while Mr. Brooke lay on the grass with a book, which he did not read. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- He knew they all were watching him, too, but he watched only Pablo. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- The swinging caught his attention, and he watched it with more and more interest. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Affery, who had watched her in terror, darted to her in the middle of the room, caught hold of her dress, and went on her knees to her. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- She watched him whenever they were at Rosings, and whenever he came to Hunsford; but without much success. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- My trusty dog watched the sheep as I slipped away to the rendezvous of my comrades, and thence to the accomplishment of our schemes. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- They watched the plane moving high and silvery and steady in the sunlight. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- I saw them stop near the church and speak to the sexton's wife, who had come from the cottage, and had waited, watching us from a distance. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I'm quick to take this fright, I know, and my head is summ'at light with wearying and watching. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- You have been watching us from behind that bush? Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- It is a priest of Juno that stands before me, watching late and lone at a shrine in an Argive temple. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- He knew they all were watching him, too, but he watched only Pablo. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Therein that first classe I was, thence I had been watching him; but there I could not find courage to await his approach. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- So, the Spider, doggedly watching Estella, outwatched many brighter insects, and would often uncoil himself and drop at the right nick of time. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- His last effort was made, when we had looked at our watches, and had got on our legs previous to taking leave. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Nothing has more individuality, save perhaps watches and bootlaces. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- These were all the speeches that were made, and I recommend them to parties who present policemen with gold watches, as models of brevity and point. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Without any mention of the various attempts to produce such a device, let us, as briefly as possible, describe the means used in most watches of American manufacture. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- There was no buying of foundry iron by analysis, no high carbon steels, no fancy tool steels--nor any efficiency experts with their stop watches and scientific speed-and-feed tables. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The idea of a Supreme Being who watches over oppressed innocence and punishes triumphant crime is essentially the idea of the people. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Watch-cases, clock-cases, and dial-plates for clocks and watches, have been prohibited to be exported. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
Checker: Sinclair