v.
- look at attentively.
▸keep under careful or protective observation.
▸
(watch for)
look out for.
- exercise care, caution, or restraint about.
▸
[usu. in imper.]
(watch out)
be careful.
- maintain an interest in.
- archaic remain awake for the purpose of religious observance.
n.
- a small timepiece worn typically on a strap on one's wrist.
- an act or instance of watching.
▸a period of vigil, typically during the night.
- a fixed period of duty on a ship, usually lasting four hours.
▸
(also starboard or port watch)
the officers and crew on duty during one such period.
▸a shift worked by firefighters or police officers.
-
(also night watch)
historical a watchman or group of watchmen who patrolled and guarded the streets of a town at night.
Phrase
- be on the watch
be on the alert for danger or trouble. - keep watch
stay on the lookout for danger or trouble. - watch one's
(or someone's)
back
protect oneself (or someone else) against danger from an unexpected quarter. - the watches of the night
literary waking hours during the night.
Derivative
Etymology
OE wæcce ‘watchfulness’, wæccende ‘remaining awake’; rel. to wake1.