| 释义 |
▪ I. watch, n.|wɒtʃ|
Forms: 1 wæcce, wæce, -æ, wecce, 2 wæcche, 3–5 wecche, 5 wecch, 3–6 weche, 5 wetche, 3–5 wacche, 4 wachche, 4–6 wache, 5–6 wach, (6 wash(e), 4–6 Sc. vach, 6 Sc. vatche, wyche, 5 waicche, waiche, waycche, 5–7 watche, (6 wash(e, wattch), 7 wauch, 6– watch.
[OE. wæcce wk. fem., f. stem of wæccan watch v. Cf. wake n.1]
I. Wakefulness, vigil.
†1.
a. The state of being awake; voluntary or involuntary going without sleep; wakefulness. Obs.
c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 350 To slæpe, gate horn under heafod ᵹelæd weccan [v.r. wæccan] he on slæpe ᵹecyrreþ. Ibid. II. 152 Ᵹif men sie micel wæce ᵹetenge, popiᵹ ᵹegnid on ele smire [etc.]. c1400Rom. Rose 4132 Long wacche on nightis, and no slepinge. c1440J. Capgrave St. Kath. 125 My lord youre eem may not wedde yow neyther in wetche [v.r. wecch] ne in dreem. 1533Elyot Cast. Helthe (1539) 48 Sembably immoderate watch drieth to moch the body. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 148 He..Fell into a Sadnesse, then into a Fast, Thence to a Watch, [etc.]. 1611― Cymb. iii. iv. 43 False to his Bed? What is it to be false? To lye in watch there, and to thinke on him? 1631Widdowes Nat. Philos. 52 There be certaine appointed courses for watch and sleepe, lest creatures languish with overmuch motion.
¶b. watch of nightingales: in the early lists of ‘proper terms’, app. intended to designate wakefulness as the distinctive quality of the bird; by late writers misapprehended as the proper term for a flock or company of nightingales. Cf. watching vbl. n.
c1452Egerton MS. 1995 (Hodgkin) Waycche of Nyghtynggales. 1486Bk. St. Albans f. vi, A wache of Nyghtingalis. 1801Strutt Sports & Past. i. ii. 33. [ 1847Halliwell, Wache, a flock of birds.]
2. a. Watching as a devotional exercise or religious observance; an act or instance of this. Now rare arch. except in watch-night (see 27).
971Blickl. Hom. 37 Mid fæstenne, & mid halᵹum wæccum, & mid ælmessum. c1200Vices & Virtues 89 Lieue saule, ic ðe bidde and warni ðat tu none hope ne haue upe ðine fasten, Ne upe ðine wæcche, ne uppe non oðre gode. c1200Ormin 1451 Wiþþ fassting, & wiþþ bedesang, Wiþþ cnelinng, & wiþþ wecche. a1225Ancr. R. 138 Vesten, wecchen & oðre swuche ase ich nemde nu beoð mine sacrefises. c1275Orison 21 in O.E. Misc. (1872) 139 Wunderliche þurh wacche and fast Þi swete lychome þu teonedest. 1421in 26 Pol. Poems xviii. 113 Kepe ȝoure wacche and seruyce dewe, And rule of habyte clenely ȝeme. c1450J. Capgrave Life St. Aug. 27 So for to make hem mor lith in her wecch, þis same bischop ded ordeyn swete songis and delectable. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 42 With the merytes & werkes of harde penaunce, abstynence, watche, prayer, turmentes and martyrdome. 1877Life St. Willibrord i. 7 There for some years he served God in fast, watch, and prayer, in a little cell.
†b. A wake or revel held on St. John the Baptist's (Midsummer) Eve (23 June), sometimes renewed on St. Peter's Eve (28 June). Obs.
1445Cov. Leet Bk. 220 Pur le Ridyng on Corpus Christi day and for Watche on Midsomer even. 1511in Songs, Carols etc. (E.E.T.S.) App. 156 On Myd-somer nyght þe Kyng cam prevyly to the Kyngis Hed in Chepe,..& so departid agayn after þe washe. & on seynt Peters nyght the Kyng & þe Quene cam rydyng to the Kyngis Hed royally; & after þe washe, departid to þe Towr. a1548Hall Chron., 20 Hen. VIII (1550) 177 By reason of this plague the watches whiche were wont to be kept yerely in London on saint Ihons euen at Mydsommer & saint Peters euen were..commaunded to be left for that yere. 1552–3in Feuillerat Revels Edw. VI (1914) 92, vj hobby horses for mydsomer watch. 1592Stow Ann. 1004, 1548..The watch..of long time laid downe, was now againe vsed, both on the eeuen of S. Iohn, and of S. Peter, in as comely order as it had beene accustomed, which watch was greatly beautified by the number of more than 300. demilances and light horsmen [etc.].
c. A ‘wake’ over a dead person.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 2467 Cristene folc..don for þe dede chirche-gong elmesse-gifte, and messe-song, And ðat is on ðe weches stede. 1908Ch. Times 13 Mar. 347/2 A watch was kept all night, the Men's Guild making themselves responsible.
3. The action or a continued act of watching; a keeping awake and vigilant for the purpose of attending, guarding, observing, or the like.
c888ælfred Boeth. xxxi. §1 Hu micele wæccan & hu micle unrotnesse se hæfð þe ðone won willan hæfð on þisse worulde. 1390Gower Conf. II. 96 So mot I nedes fro hire wende And of my wachche make an ende. c1450Mirk's Festial 180 He com to þe chyrch and to þe scryne of Saynt Wenefryd, and was þer yn his prayers al a nyght. But on þe morow, what for wach, what for wery, he fylle on slepe. 1541Paynell Conspir. Catal. i. 1 He was an experte man of warre: he could suffer and endure labour, watche, colde, thyrste, and hunger, far beyond that any man wolde beleue. 1577Grange Golden Aphrod. Ep. Ded. A ij b, Diodorus the Stoike..thorow his continuall watch and excessiue studie, being blinde of long time. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iii. 35 Care keepes his watch in euery old mans eye, And where Care lodges, sleepe will neuer lye. 1600E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 317 They were so wearied with the watches of the last night. 1697Dryden æneis ix. 312 The Foe securely drench'd in Sleep and Wine, Neglect their Watch. 1704Addison tr. Ovid, Phaeton's Sisters 31 All the long night their mournful watch they keep, And all the day stand round the tomb and weep. 1788F. Burney Diary 25 Nov., These night watches, and this close attendance, disagree with them all. 1847Tennyson Princess vi. 129 Wan was her cheek With hollow watch. 1859H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xxxix, Sometimes we would think of poor Mary Hawker, at her lonely watch up at the forest station. 1890Stevenson In South Seas ii. vi. (1900) 190 Others had wearied of the watch; and as the sun was setting, he found himself by the grave alone.
4. [tr. L. vigilia, Gr. ϕυλακή, Heb. ashmōreth.] Each of the (three, four, or five) periods into which the night was anciently divided. Now often in collective plural, the watches of the night, used rhetorically for ‘the night-time’.
The Hebrews divided the night into three watches, the Greeks usually into four (sometimes five), the Romans (followed by the Jews in New Testament times) into four.
c1000ælfric Hom. II. 388 Drihten com to his leorning⁓cnihtum..on ðære feorðan wæccan. An wæcce hæfð þreo tida; feower wæccan ᵹefyllað twelf tida; swa fela tida hæfð seo niht. c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke xii. 38 Ᵹif he cymð on þære æfteran wæccan, oððe on þære þriddan. [So Tindale and all later versions; Wyclif has wakynge.] 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 247 b, In iewry..the nyght was dyuyded into iiii partes whiche they called iiii watches. The fyrst was from the begynnyng of the nyght vnto ix of the clocke. The second from ix to xii. The thyrde from xii to iii and the fourth from iii to vj of the clocke. 1535Coverdale Exod. xiv. 24 Whan the mornynge watch came, the Lorde loked vpon the armies of the Egipcians. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. v. 28 As hee whose Brow (with homely Biggen bound) Snores out the Watch of Night. 1604― Oth. i. i. 124 At this odde Euen and dull watch o' th' night. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 119 The day was not diuided of the first Hebrewes..into houres, but was distinguished by Vigiliæ, or Watches, of which they had foure. 1706Estcourt Fair Example iv. i. 51 Fan. Well, my dear, it begins to grow late, and it's time I shou'd leave you. Mrs. Fan. It do's indeed, Husband, I believe the first watch is expir'd. 1742Fielding J. Andrews i. xvi, When the Company had retired the Evening before, the Thief was detained in a Room where the Constable, and one of the young Fellows who took him, were planted as his Guard. About the second Watch a general Complaint of Drowth was made. 1826Scott Jrnl. 21 Jan., The watches of the night pass wearily when disturbed by fruitless regrets. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xci. 13 Come: not in watches of the night, But where the sunbeam broodeth warm. 1883R. Broughton Belinda i. viii, How can she hurry the pace? she asks herself desperately, in the watches of the night.
†5. A vicious turning of night into day, ‘chambering’. Obs.
c1225Leg. Kath. 1766 For nabbe ich nawt þeos niht i worldliche wecchen, ah habbe in heouenliche iwaket. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 90 Hateful of herte he was to sobrenesse, Cherisshyng surfaytes wacche and gloteny.
II. Action of watching or observing.
6. a. The action or an act of watching or observing with continuous attention; a continued look-out, as of a sentinel or guard. Chiefly in phrases, † to make watch, to keep (a, the) watch, to set a watch.
1375Barbour Bruce ix. 318 He..has the castell tan, Throu falt of vach, vith litill payn. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. ix. 17 Ac þe constable of þat castel þat kepeth al þe wacche, Is a wyse kniȝte with-al, sire Inwitte he hatte. c1440Promp. Parv. 520/1 Wetche, for enmees, excubie. c1450Merlin iv. 76 Therfore a-ray youre oste and your barons, and comaunde hem to make gode wacche to diffende hem-self. Ibid. xx. 318 And the[i] drinke and ete ech day and trouble so theire braynes that thei sette litill wacche in theire hoste. 1486Ctess. Oxford in Paston Lett. III. 328, I..streitly chargie you that ye..endevore your self that suche wetche or other meanes be used and hadde in the poorts, and creks, and othre places..to the letting of his seid purpose. 1538Elyot Dict., Excubiæ,..watche, as well by daye as by nyghte. 1549Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 64 That day begane agayne the washe at every gatt in London of the comeneres in harnes with weppyns. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 120 They kepe so good watche, that nothing can escape them. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 650 The Magistrates and gouernours caused great watches to be kept, and good order to be obserued. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. vii. 18 The Generall.. determined to enter into the Harbour of Monsambicke,..appointing also there shoulde be great watch, for preuention of the Moores. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii, 54 Rich. Good Norfolke, hye thee to thy charge, Vse carefull Watch, chuse trusty Centinels. 1625Bacon Ess., Love (Arb.) 445 Loue can finde entrance, not only into an open Heart; but also into a Heart well fortified; if watch be not well kept. 1670Ray Prov. 28 Good watch prevents misfortune. a1700Evelyn Diary an. 1625, I well remember the strict watches and examinations upon the ways as we passed. 1798S. Lee Canterb. T., Young Lady's T. II. 238 [He] had a strict watch kept on the wanderings of the melancholy Lenox. 1827Keble Chr. Yr., Advent Sunday iv, Even so, heart-searching Lord,..Thou keepest silent watch from thy triumphal throne. 1835James Gipsy ii, ‘Keep a good watch, my boys,’ he said,..‘There is danger stirring abroad.’ 1842Dickens Amer. Notes xvi, Many an eager eye glanced up to where the Look⁓out on the mast kept watch for Holyhead. 1867Swinburne Ess. & Stud. (1875) 159 The look in it as of bright bewildered eyes with tears not theirs and alien wonder in the watch of them. 1886C. Scholl Phraseol. Dict. II. 834, I kept a watch on that man all the time he was on the premises. 1901Munsey's Mag. XXIV. 515/2 He kept watch of you even after the money was stolen.
transf.1804Campbell Soldier's Dream 2 The night-cloud had lowered, And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky.
b. The duty, post or office of watchman or sentinel. Obs. exc. in Bible phrase to stand upon one's watch.
1535Coverdale Neh. vii. 3 Whyle they are yet stondinge in the watch, the dores shall be shut and barred. And there were certayne citesyns of Ierusalem appoynted to be watch⁓men, euery one in his watch. 1550S'hampton Crt. Leet Rec. (1905) I. i. 15 Wherfore yt ys comaunded that every man paye his watches for the welthe and Savegard of the towne as [etc.]. 1581A. Hall Iliad vii. 132 They to their supper do departe, some to the watch do hye, And some their tyred limmes to reste on couches downe do lye. 1604Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 12 Welcome Iago: we must to the Watch. Ibid. v. ii. 326 There is besides, in Rodorigo's Letter, How he vpbraides Iago, that he made him Braue me vpon the Watch. 1605― Macb. v. v. 33 As I did stand my watch vpon the Hill I look'd toward Byrnane, and anon me thought The Wood began to moue. 1611Bible Hab. ii. 1, I will stand vpon my watch, and set mee vpon the towre, and will watch to see what he will say vnto me.
c. Surveillance over a person, either for his protection or with hostile intent.
1611Bible Job vii. 12 Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch ouer me? 1776Trial of Nundocomar 23/2, I do not put a watch over him; how can I tell who has seen him. 1782F. Burney Cecilia iii. viii, We shall be able to keep a better watch over her. 1827Scott Highl. Widow v, Impatient of the watch which was placed over her. 1885Bible (R.V.) 1 Sam. xxvi. 15 Wherefore then hast thou not kept watch over thy lord the king?
d. on, upon (the) watch: on the look out, exercising vigilance. Const. for, to with inf.
1719De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 203, I resolv'd to put my self upon the Watch to see them when they came to Shore. 1775A. Burnaby Trav. N. Amer. 28 note, The bald-eagle, which is generally upon the watch, instantly pursues [the fishing-hawk]. 1797Jane Austen Sense & Sens. xxvi, Wherever they went she was evidently always on the watch. 1848Dickens Dombey xxv, The..door..opened when he knocked—for Rob was on the watch. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 182 He must be always on the watch for the indications of a coming reaction. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 237 We should not have been on the watch to keep one another from doing wrong.
†e. Watchfulness, vigilance. Obs.
14..Lydg. Lyke thyn Audience 28 in Pol. Rel. & Love Poems (1903) 48 [Hunt game] with bowe and arow in honde Mawgre the wache of fosters and parkerris. 1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye ii. 241 Thoughe she ordeyned wyth all watche and dylygence her thoughtes wordes & dedes to the worshyp of god yet she [etc.]. 1465Paston Lett. II. 214 Maketh gode wache be tyme.
personified.c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 76 Agayn my luste, Wach profrid his seruise, And I admittid hym in heuy wyse.
7. a. watch and ward: the action of ‘watching and warding’ (see watch v. 6 b, 10, watching vbl. n. 1 c); the performance of the duty of a watchman or sentinel, esp. as a feudal obligation. Now only (as often in earlier times) a rhetorical and more emphatic synonym of watch in sense 6; also fig.
It has often been supposed that in this phrase watch refers to service by night and ward to service by day, but this seems to be merely an unsupported inference from the etymology.
1390Gower Conf. II. 202 Thei..maken thanne warde and wacche, Wher thei the profit mihten cacche. c1425in Black Bk. Admir. (Rolls) I. 284 That every man be obeissant to his capitene to kepe his wacche and warde. 1471Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 94 He doth yow to wete that ye do kepe yow wyth good wacche and warde. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccccxxxiii. 308 Thus they stode styll kepynge watche and warde, redy at their defence. 1576Gascoigne Philomene (Arb.) 87 But I which spend, the darke and dreadful night, In watch and ward, when those birds take their rest, Forpine my selfe. 1596Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 9 Still, when she slept, he kept both watch and ward. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 137 As for their Watch and Ward, it goes by course, as in the City of Embden, and divers other in those low countries. 1687Declar. Dubl. 8 Dec. in Lond. Gaz. No. 2222/3 We do hereby further Require..that the Laws of this Realm concerning the keeping of Watch and Ward, and for raising the Hue-and-Cry be duly observed. 1780Burke Sp. Bristol 60 But let government..comprehend the whole in its justice, and restrain the suspicious by its vigilance; let it keep watch and ward;..and then it will be as safe as ever God and nature intended it should be. 1817Coleridge Biog. Lit. I. x. 191 At least let us not be lulled into such a notion of our entire security, as not to keep watch and ward, even on our best feelings. 1848Dickens Dombey xi, Mrs. Pipchin had kept watch and ward over little Paul and his sister for nearly twelve months. 1859― T. Two Cities ii. iii, The jury..were not agreed... My Lord..signified his pleasure that they should retire under watch and ward, and retired himself. 1868Local Act 31 & 32 Vict. c. lix. Preamble, Whereas the Power of Watch and Ward within the University and City of Oxford has heretofore been customarily exercised during the Night by the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford, and during the Day by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of the City of Oxford. 1873Black Pr. Thule xvii. 267 The necessity of keeping some watch and ward over his tongue. 1906S. J. Reid Life & Lett. Ld. Durham xviii. II. 32 Along the southern line of the Russian frontiers it was necessary to keep military watch and ward against the predatory incursions of Tartar tribes.
†b. in pl. Obs. rare.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ix. xxv. (1495) 362 By watches and wardes of knyghtes the nighte is departed in foure, bi foure partes and orders of watches. 1511Guylforde's Pilgr. (Camden) 10 Arragonse..is the strongest towne of walles, towres, bulwerkes, watches, and wardes that euer I sawe in all my lyfe.
†c. = 8 b. Obs.
1566S'hampton Crt. Leet Rec. (1905) I. i. 41 Item that non put eny catall Into the comyn who is not a howseholder and paye watche and warde vpon payne to furfet for evere tyme so offendinge 2/-.
†8.
a. The action of keeping guard and maintaining order in the streets, esp. during the night, performed by a picked body of the community. Phrase, to keep watch. Obs.
1442Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 8 And ony waicheman that slepis in the nyght, or removis fra the waiche quhile the son rise, sal pay vi d. to the seriandes. 1532Cov. Leet Bk. 712 All Constables within the Citie & suburbes of the same shal-be discharged fromehensforth of the Comen watche in this Citie & also of all paymentes & charges of the same. 1534in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 128 In the night wach to be kept by the Univ. no freman..should..be vexed..by the wach. 1549Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 65 That nyght was the comyneres of London was dyscharged of ther waching at alle the gattes of London in harnes, and to wache no more but the comyne wache as a nyttes in every warde as it hath bene acostomyd before. 1878J. Davidson Inverurie iv. 138 A watch to be kept by sixteen persons every night, and two sentinels in every steeple by day.
†b. A payment or tax for the upkeep of watchmen. Obs.
1430in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 294 No Maire..shal pardon and forgyve amercements of brede, ale, wacche and affrayes. 1467in Eng. Gilds (1870) 390 That then he pay taske, tallage, knyghtenspence, wacches, and other charges wtyn the warde that he comyth furst in to the seid cite by. 1506Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W.) iv. ix. 192 To paye taxes watches subsydes, or passages agayne theyr wyll.
†9. A lying in wait, an ambush; hence an insidious design or plot. Phrases, to lay watch, to place an ambush, to lie at, in, watch (for). Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 5585 Bot the ffreikes were ferd of hor fre shippes, ffor to caire by the coste, & knew not the waches. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 195 Helle..fleenge the wacches of here steppe moder [L. fugiens insidias novercales]. 1483Caxton Golden Leg. 430/2 Kepyng hym self ryght curyously fro the prychyng sawtes and watche of the world. 1533Bellenden Livy v. (S.T.S.) II. 207 Þai..began to drede sum hid watche and tressoun [L. insidias vereri]. 1535Coverdale 1 Macc. xi. 68 And beholde, the hoostes of the Heithen met them in the felde, & layed watch for them in the mountaynes. 1545in Leadam Court Requests (Selden Soc.) 183 Defendauntes..leyd at divers tymes watch to take the corne off the said complaynaunt. 1548Cranmer Catech. 190 b, For if we shuld not much forbeare and forgyue one another,..we shoulde neuer haue measure nor ende of chiding, scoldynge, laying in watche one of another [etc.]. 1549Compl. Scot. xi. 87 Thai lay at the vatch [printed vacht], lyik the ald subtil doggis. 1555Instit. Gentl. E vij, Manius..was..abhorred of hys own soldiers, euen so muche as they tooke hym in a watche, and set hym vpon an Asse backe hys fete bounde vnder the bely of the Asse [etc.]. 1653Walton Angler iii. 91 He [the trout] gets him into swifter and swifter streams, and there lies at the watch for any flie or Minow that comes neer to him.
10. a. One who watches; a look-out man; † a spy.
1375Barbour Bruce vi. 44 Bot he, that had his vachis ay On ilk syde, of thar cummyng, Lang or thai com, had vittering. Ibid. xix. 442 Bot the lord dowglas, that ay-quhar Set out wachis heir and thar [Gat] wit of thair enbuschement. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 276 The King buskit him sone, with scant of Squyary Wachis and Wardroparis all war away. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour cxxiii. lv, By the false watches & bacbyters whiche ben neuer cessyng to talke of som euylle rather than of somme good. 1820Irving Sketch Bk. I. ii. 16 Suddenly the watch gave the alarm of ‘a sail ahead!’
b. Cricket. A fieldsman; also, a fielding position or station. (Winchester College.)
1836New Sporting Mag. Oct. 360 The fielding of the ‘Wykehamist watches’ was very different from years gone by. 1843[F. Gale] Pract. Hints Cricket Frontisp., The ‘watches’ are placed more behind the wicket, since the introduction of Round Bowling, than they were formerly. 1871F. Gale Echoes fr. Old Cricket Fields 27 What I call an all-round player is a man who will go to any watch he is told, long or short, except wicket-keeper.
11. One who watches, or those who watch, for purposes of guarding and protecting life and property, and the like; esp. before the introduction of the New Police, a watchman or body of watchmen, who patrolled and guarded the streets of a town, proclaimed the hour, etc.
1539Cov. Leet Bk. 738 That fromehensfurthe the seriauntes that shall warne the comen watche of this Citie shall furst begyn to warne the said watche at seynt Margettes Chappell. 1571Rec. Burgh Lanark (1893) 63 The cunsall ordanis the fouir balleis to deill the toun in fouir, and ilke ane of thame nychtly rasave the wache, and put nychtly sufecent wyches to the port. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 536 Hostesse. The Sherife and all the Watch are at the doore: they are come to search the House, shall I let them in? 1599― Much Ado iii. v. 49 Dog. One word sir, our watch sir haue indeede comprehended two aspitious persons. 1607T. D. & G. Wilkins Jests 10 A yong man, being taken by a watch in the day time, for an idle fellow, was by a Constable brought before one of the Sheriffes of London, [etc.]. 1670–1Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 376 On Munday morning at two a'clock, some persons reported to be of great quality,..set upon the watch and killd a poore beadle. 1681Otway Soldier's Fort. v. (1687) 61 Enter Constable and Watch. Const... I and my Watch going my morning Rounds, and finding your door open, made bold to enter to see there were no danger. 1703Lond. Gaz. No. 3901/2 A Watch which was posted near that Place..came to his Assistance. 1751F. Coventry Pompey the Little i. xiii. 114 Gentlemen, answered the Watch, we are no Rascals, but Servants of His Majesty King George. 1812Murphy Delany's Feast 12 Hullo! what's all this noise about? To the watch-house you must go, sir. Phelim struck the watch across the nose, And cried out no, no, no, sir. 1838Bentley's Misc. III. 51 From such neighbours the Cheap could not escape. The watch was generally scanty and always idle, and in the depth of winter the streets were without lights, save [etc.]. 1841Dickens Barn. Rudge xvi, Then there was the watch with staff and lanthorn, crying the hour, and the kind of weather. 1845D. Jerrold St. Giles i, The woman, with a piercing shriek, called the watch; but the watch..answered not.
12. A sentinel; also, the body of soldiers constituting the guard of a camp, town, gate of a town, etc. ? Obs. exc. Hist.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1205 Bot er þay at-wappe ne moȝt þe wach wyth-oute, Hiȝe skelt was þe askry þe skewes anvnder. 1375Barbour Bruce ix. 375 Thai herd no vachis spek no cry. Ibid. xvii. 481 Thai set gud wachis to thar wall. c1380Sir Ferumb. 5185 Þan was þar non of al þe wacche þat ys herte ne by-gan to cacche. a1400–50Wars Alex. 5215 Sone þe wacchis on þe wallis þam wiȝtly ascryes, Qua þai ware & of quethen & quat was þar errande. c1425Wyntoun Cron. iv. lv. 1177 (Wemyss), And that ȝit Brynnyus wonnyng had Had nocht the guss sic craking maid That walknyt the wache sodanely. c1500Three Kings' Sons 123 The ladies and gentilwomen..were not wele assured when they herd the belle of the wacche, for the comyng of the Turke. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xlii. 33 Langour wes weche vpoun the wall, That nevir sleipit bot evir wouke. 1539Bible (Cranmer) Matt. xxvii. 65 Pylate sayde vnto them: Ye haue the watch [Gr. ἔχετε κουστωδίαν]; go your waye, make it as sure as ye can. 1598Barret Theor. Warres ii. i. 19, It is also his [the Sergeant's] office to set & remoue the watches. 1611Bible Matt. xxviii. 11 Behold, some of the watch came into the citie, and shewed vnto the chiefe Priests all the things that were done. a1670Spalding Troub. Chas. I (Bannatyne Club) II. 321 Sir Johne Hurry..gois throw the marques of Montrois watches, saying, he wes the lord Gordoun's man. c1672Verney Mem. (1907) II. 345 They told me they were the watch sent to stop all Passengers. 1825Scott Betrothed xx, ‘Guarine,’ he added, addressing his squire, ‘let the watch be posted, and do thou remain within the tent.’ 1844Talfourd Athen. Captive III. iii, The watch presently will be removed.
13. In the early 18th c., the designation of certain companies of irregular troops in the Highlands. Black Watch, a name given (from the dark-coloured tartan worn by them) to some of these companies raised c 1729–30, and afterwards, 1739–40, embodied as the 42nd Regiment, which still retains the name.
1739Lovat in W. Fraser Chiefs of Grant (1883) II. 380 My dear Frank..is not to stay any time in what you call the Black Watch. I think it is a right name to us, for we are represented very black to our Generall. 1822D. Stewart Sk. Highlanders I. 223 This corps, which has been so well known for nearly eighty years under the appellation of the 42nd Highland Regiment..was originally known by the name of the Reicudan Du, or Black Watch. This was an appellation given to the Independent Companies of which the regiment was formed. It arose from the colour of their dress. 1900Ld. Roberts Dispatch in Daily News 10 May 4/7 The Black Watch distinguished themselves, and were very skilfully led. 1913N. Munro New Road iii. (1914) 35 The Highland Watches were considered in some quarters dubious servants of the King.
14. A hill serving as a look-out station. Sc. (? Obs. exc. in local names.)
17..Pennecuik Wks. (1815) 50 (E.D.D.) Hills are variously named, according to their magnitude; as..Tor, Watch, Rig. 1806Forsyth Beauties Scot. III. 114 There are hills in the same parish, called watches, where persons sat in order to give notice on the first approach of an enemy.
†15. Something to catch the eye, a bait to catch the attention of a hawk. Obs.
c1450Bk. Hawking in Rel. Ant. I. 293 And thou wolt take a goshawke, let his wach be a colvour; and yf he falle not there to, put a rabbett.
†16. A signal. Obs.
1578H. Wotton Courtlie Controv. 247 The Englishe lordes hauing giuen the princesse Virginia a watch to linger behinde and step aside [orig. ayans par vn signal fait escarter de la compagnie la Princesse V.].
III. Nautical uses.
17. a. [Developed from sense 4.] That period of time for which each of the divisions of a ship's company (called ‘watches’: see 18) alternately remains on deck; usually four hours, with the exception of the dog-watches (see dog-watch). (One's) watch below, watch off, the time one is off duty. to be off the watch: to be off duty.
1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. ii. 2 We about the first watch sayled straight towards the port of Carry. a1624in Capt. J. Smith Hist. Virginia i. Wks. I. 340 When we had run 30. leagues we had 40. fadom, then 70. then 100. After 2. or 3. watches more we were in 24. fadoms. 1634Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 4 As the master of the ship conceived we ran seven leagues in a watch, in four hours. 1697Lond. Gaz. No. 3317/4 In a Watch and a half..they gained so much of us, that we saw no probability of coming up with them. 1781Cowper Retirem. 434 He that on the mainmast head While morning kindles with a windy red, Begins a long look-out for distant land, Nor quits, till ev'ning watch, his giddy stand. 1848W. A. Ross Yacht Voy. Norway, etc. II. 256 The sailors who were below and off the watch, rose as we entered. 1850H. Melville White Jacket I. xxi. 128 At eight o'clock in the morning your watch-below comes round, and you are not liable to duty until noon. 1867Smyth Sailor's Work-bk, Watch,..the word is also applied to the time during which the watch remains on deck, usually four hours, with the exception of the dog-watches. 1898Kipling Fleet in Being i. 4, I counted seven speeds in one watch, ranging from eight knots to seventeen. 1914Glasgow Herald 26 Aug. 8 The master was having his watch off, and was lying down amidships.
b. A sailor's turn or period of duty.
1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 44 They were a part of the men whose watch it was. 1833H. Martineau Loom & Lugger i. iii. 26 He stood as fair a chance as a brighter man..of sustaining his six hours' watch to the satisfaction of his officer.
transf.1908Daily Chron. 10 Apr. 1/5 This afternoon a batch of telegraphists due on duty refused to attend. The batch then on duty declared that they would go out on strike when their watch ended.
18. a. That part, usually one half, of the officers and crew, who together attend to the working of a vessel during a ‘watch’ (see 17). The usual two divisions, port watch († larboard watch) and starboard watches, are sometimes again divided into two, making four in all.
1626Capt. J. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 790 The Corporall is to see to the setting and releeuing the watch. 1627― Sea Gram. xiii. 61 Watch be vigilant to keepe your berth to windward. 1628Digby Voy. Mediterr. (Camden) 14 It was all that both the watches could do together to tacke about the sailes. 1699T. Allison Voy. Archangel 103 We set our Sprit-Sail too, but all the Watch, which were ten Men, were two hours in getting it loose. 1743Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 8, I was Officer of the Watch (tho' I was Gunner of the Ship, I had the Charge of a Watch during the whole Voyage). 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v., To set the Watch, is to appoint one division of the crew to enter upon the duty of the watch; as at eight o'clock in the evening. Hence it is equivalent to mounting the guard in the army. 1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 235 Each watch consists of two boats' crews. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xxvi, The watch was called as soon as the sails were trimmed. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xiv. 33 Instead of having a watch on deck and a watch below, as at sea, all hands are at work together. 1913M. Roberts Salt of Sea vii. 181 ‘Any man would scorn to be Tyser's sister's son,’ said the starboard watch. Ibid., ‘The grub's horrid,’ said both watches.
b. watch and watch, the arrangement by which the two halves of a ship's crew take duty alternately every four hours.
1780Mirror No. 97 ‘Business,’ cried the Captain, ‘is not oratory business? and why cannot they set to it watch and watch, as we do at sea?’ 1813Southey Nelson I. 22 He was stationed in the foretop at watch and watch. 1829Marryat F. Mildmay xii, They were either mast-headed, or put watch and watch. 1850H. Melville White Jacket I. xxi. 128 In a man-of-war at sea, the sailors have watch and watch; that is, through every twenty-four hours they are on and off duty every four hours. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Watch and Watch, the arrangement of the crew in two watches.
transf.1889‘Mark Twain’ Yankee at Crt. Arthur xl, Well, he stood watch-and-watch with me, right straight through, for three days and nights, till the child was out of danger.
IV. A timepiece.
†19. An alarm-clock, or an alarum attached to a clock. Obs.
The sense in the first example is doubtful, as the Latin rendering is omitted; but on etymological grounds it seems likely that the sense ‘alarum’ is the oldest of the senses of this branch. With the form wecche in quot. 1440 cf. wecche v. (trans.) to awaken.
c1440Promp. Parv. 520/1 Wecche, of a clokke. 1542in Archæol. Jrnl. XVIII. 142 Item oone Clocke... Item oone Larum or Watch of iron, the case being likewise iron gilt with two plumettes of led.
20.
†a. A dial or clock-face; the circle of figures on a dial. Obs.
1588Greene Perimedes G 2 b, Restlesse the clocke that chimes hir fast a sleepe, Disquiet thoughts the minits of her watch. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, v. v. 52 For now hath Time made me his numbring clocke; My Thoughts, are minutes; and with Sighes they iarre, Their watches on vnto mine eyes, the outward Watch, Whereto my finger, like a Dialls point, Is pointing still, in cleansing them from teares. 1672in Lostwithiel Rec. (Hist. MSS. Comm., Var. Collect. 1901) I. 335 For mending the clock there, and for making a watch or dyall uppon the tower of the said Borough.
b. The going-part of a clock. ? Obs.
1696W. Derham Artif. Clock-m. i. 3 The parts of a Movement, which I shall consider, are the Watch, and Clock. The Watch-part of a Movement is that which serveth to the measuring the hours. In which the first thing I shall consider is the Ballance. 1816J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 376 The profile of the watch or going part of a clock is shewn by fig. 1, pl. VI.
21. a. A small time-piece; orig. one with a spring-driven movement, and of a size to be carried in the pocket; now also freq., a wrist-watch (spring- or battery-driven).
The occasional occurrence of the term pocket-watch (see quot. 1705 below) suggests that the word was sometimes applied to spring-driven clocks of larger size. From the beginning of the 17th c. ‘watches’ (from the context clearly pocket watches) are often spoken of as striking.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 194 A woman that is like a Germane Cloake, Still a repairing: euer out of frame, And neuer going a right, being a Watch: But being watcht, that it may still goe right. 1590R. Harvey Plain Perc. 24 Surrender vp thy watch though it were gold. 1592Greene Conny Catching iii. E 2 b, He reported his freend had lost a watch of golde: shewing how closely his freende wore it in his bosome. 1610Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 12 Looke, hee's winding up the watch of his wit, By and by it will strike. 1625B. Jonson Staple of N. i. i, (He drawes foorth his watch, and sets it on the table.) 't strikes! One, two, Three, foure, fiue, six. Inough, inough, deare watch. c1633in Verney Mem. (1907) I. 147 The gold watch sett with Turkies. 1651Jer. Taylor Holy Dying i. §3 (1676) 22 While he told the sands of his hour-glass, or the throbs and little beatings of his Watch. 1652in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 38 A verie prettie vatche of an agat, with ane case of silver. c1657in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 135 A plain sillvor woch... I have it merely to know how the time goes away. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 270 A gilt brass Candlestick, that had thirty branches, having a striking Watch within the Body of it. 1662S. P. Acc. Latitude-men 16 There are also imperfect Clocks called Watches that do not strike, but onely have a Dyall with a hand turning round. 1688R. Stapley Diary in Sussex Archæol. Collect. II. 113 July 12th, bought..a silver-cased watch, wch cost me 3 li... This watch shewes y⊇ hour of y⊇ day, y⊇ day of y⊇ month, y⊇ months of y⊇ year, y⊇ age of y⊇ moon, and y⊇ ebbing and flowing of y⊇ water; and will goe 30 hours with once winding up. 1705Hickeringill Priest-cr. iv. (1721) 210 Pocket your Watch, and Watch your Pockets. 1705W. Derham in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 317 Whether the vacuum affected the going of a pocket-watch. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Watch,..a Pocket-clock for the measuring of Time. 1751F. Coventry Pompey the Little i. iv. 37 Lady Tempest, looking at her Watch, declared it was time to be going. 1784Johnson Let. to Sastres 21 Aug., Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true. 1837L. Hebert Engin. & Mech. Encycl. I. 683 The essential difference between clocks and watches consists in the nature of the regulator employed; which in clocks is the pendulum, and in watches the balance wheel. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xlvi, The doctor..drew out his watch, and felt her pulse. 1879Thomson & Tait Nat. Phil. I. i. §414 A Clock is primarily an instrument which, by means of a train of wheels, records the number of vibrations executed by a pendulum; a Chronometer or Watch performs the same duty for the oscillations of a flat spiral spring.
b. Applied to a pocket time-piece regulated otherwise than by a balance-wheel and hair-spring.
1666in Birch Hist. Royal Soc. (1756) II. 83 April 18. Mr. Hooke produced a new kind of watch, the motion of which was regulated by a load-stone, the balance of it being a rod of steel. 1667Sprat Hist. R. Soc. 247 Several new kinds of Pendulum Watches for the Pocket, wherein the motion is regulated, by Springs, or Weights, or Loadstones, or Flies moving very exactly regular. 1696W. Derham Artif. Clock-m. viii. 98 Of the Invention of those Pocket-Watches, commonly called Pendulum Watches.
c. A chronometer as used on board ship.
1778R. Waddington Sea Officer's Comp. 7 Suppose the alt. of the sun taken at 8h. 12′ a.m. by the watch. 1794J. H. Moore Pract. Navig. (ed. 10) 216 Suppose a ship at sea in lat. 47° 34′ N. by account, at 9H. 55M. 30S. by watch. 1816Tuckey Narr. Exped. R. Zaire ii. (1818) 51 Our chronometers gave the longitude of the north end of Prince's island 7°... The same watch makes the N.W. point of St. Thomas in 6° 31′, [etc.].
d. nonce-use. A mechanism with rotating hands or pointers which move at any fixed ratio of speed.
1882Minchin Unipl. Kinem. 95 AB and AC may then be simply two hands of a ‘Watch’ whose mechanism is at A, such that the angle turned through by the hand AC is always three times the angle turned through by the hand.
e. silly (or crazy) as a two-bob watch: extremely stupid, mad. Austral. slang.
1954P. Gladwin Long Beat Home 72 There now, I clean forgot. I'm getting silly as a two-bob watch. 1963L. Glassop Rats in New Guinea 192 Crazy as a two-bob watch. Should have reported it, corporal. 1972J. de Hoog Skid Row Dossier 75 ‘Don't buy him a beer, Johnny, he's silly as a two bob watch’, someone advised as he tapped me on the shoulder.
22. A trial-piece of glass, pottery, copper, etc. put in a furnace and taken out again, to enable the workman to judge of the degree of heating and the condition of the material operated on.[App. a mistranslation of F. montre, in this application used in the sense of show-piece (from montrer to show), but commonly meaning a watch (timepiece).] 1606Peacham Art of Drawing 69 Lay with every bed of your wrought and drawn glass one of the said pieces, which are called watches. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 330 A small proof of copper, of the form of a watch-case, and therefore called montre, is taken out from time to time. Ibid. 1016 Pyrometric balls of red clay..are employed in the English potteries to ascertain the temperature of the glaze kilns... The glazer provides himself at each round with a stock of these ball watches.
23. U.S. (See quot.)
1891Century Dict., Watch 9. pl. A name of the trumpet⁓leaf, Sarracenia flava, probably alluding to the resemblance of the flowers to watches.
†V.
24. Cant. his watch, her watch, my watch: = Himself, herself, myself. Obs.
c1530Copland Hye Way Spyttel Hous in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 69 The patryng coue in the darkman cace Docked the dell for a coper meke, His watch shall feng a prounces nobchete. 1567Harman Caveat (1869) 61 Thys harlot..had an vpright man or two alwayes attendinge on her watche (whyche is on her parson). Ibid. 86 That is beneshyp to our watche. 1612Dekker O per se O O 1 b, I met a Dell, I viewde her well, she was benship to my watch.
VI.
25. dial. = wake n.2 6.
1892Pictorial World 23 Apr. 733/2 They are feeding in one of the little pieces of open water—‘watches’ they are called—where the springs are strong, and the fowl keep the water moving.
VII. attrib. and Comb.
26. simple attrib. (sense 6) watch temple; (sense 21), as watch-back, watch-band, watch-barrel (barrel 5 b), watch bow (n.1 11 a), watch cock (n.1 16), watch-dial (n.1 4), watch-face, watch-holder, watch-key (also attrib.), watch-movement (3 b), watch pendant (n. 11), watch pendulum-wire, watch pillar (n. 8), watch-strap.
1894A. H. Church J. Wedgwood x. 76 *Watch-backs,..for which Wedgwood employed with success his beautiful jasper paste.
1924Sears, Roebuck Catal. 410/1 *Watch-band, woven wire. For watches. 1970N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon iii. 64, I found the little card..and stuck it under his watchband.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Watch-barrel.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 284 *Watch Bow, the round ring of a watch case to which the guard is attached.
1899― Old Clocks & Watches 346 *Watch Cocks. The first of the cocks or brackets used to support one end of the balance staff were probably quite plain.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. s.v., *Watch-dials are usually made of thin sheet copper [etc.]. 1899F. J. Britten Old Clocks & Watches 120 Decoration in enamel is sometimes to be found on watch dials..produced during the early part of the seventeenth century.
1893Scribner's Mag. June 725/1 He felt for his matches and struck one to look at his *watch-face.
1915Kipling Diversity of Creatures (1917) 410 Your watch also [is] in the coralline *watch-holder.
1773Pennsylv. Gaz. 16 June, Suppl. 2/2 [Advt.] Steel and brass *watch keys. 1840Hood Up Rhine 110 A..watch-key in the shape of a pistol.
1723Lond. Gaz. No. 6189/4 *Watch Key-maker.
1795J. Aikin Manchester 311 They make *watch-movements. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 284 Watch Movement, the plates with the wheels and pinions composing the train.
Ibid. 285 *Watch Pendant, the little neck of metal connecting the bow to the band of a watch case.
1849Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 65 The finest flattened steel, sold at the watchmakers' tool shops, under the name of *watch pendulum-wire.
1899F. J. Britten Old Clocks & Watches 348 *Watch Pillars..are now universally made of a plain cylindrical form.
1925Watchmaker, Jeweler, Silversmith & Optician LI. 138 (Advt.), The finest range of *watch straps. 1977P. Theroux Consul's File 126 The woman [was] covered with welts the shape of watch-straps.
1921D. H. Lawrence Sea & Sardinia ii. 66 Venus of the aborigines, from her *watch-temple looking at Africa.
27. Special combs.: watch-alarm (see quot.); watch-ball, a ball of clay used to test the temperature of a glaze kiln (see sense 22 above); † watch-birth nonce-wd., ? a literary work brought to birth by watching; watch-boat, a boat on patrol duty; watch bracelet, a bracelet fitted with a small watch; watch-candle, a candle used for night-watching, a watching candle; watch cap (see quot. 1911); watch-care U.S., watchful care; watch-chain, a metal chain used as a watch-guard; hence watch-chained a.; watch-charm U.S., a small ornament that may hang from a watch-chain; watch-cloak, -coat, a thick, heavy cloak or coat worn by seamen, soldiers, or watchmen when on duty in bad weather; † watch-cobbler, ? a mender of watches; watch committee Hist., the committee of a county borough council which dealt with all matters pertaining to the policing and public lighting of the borough; watch-fire, a fire maintained during the night as a signal, or for the use of a sentinel, party or person on watch; watch-free a., free from the duty of watching or keeping guard; † watch George, ? a George (George 3) in the form of a watch; watch-guard, a chain, cord, ribbon, or the like used to secure a watch when it is worn on the person; watch-gun, † (a) a spring gun used as guard against trespassers; (b) Naut. (see quot. 1815); watch hand, each of the hands of a watch; also attrib. in watch-hand rotation, rotation from left to right like that of the hands of a watch; watch-header U.S., the officer in charge of a watch; watch hill (see quot. 1895); watch-hook, a hook for fastening a watch to the dress; † watch hour, the hour for sounding the watch; watch jeweller, a workman who fits the jewels in the pivot-holes of watches; watch-jobber, a mender of watches, esp. as a watchmaker's employé; watch-keeper, one who keeps watch or serves as a member of a watch on board ship; an officer in charge of a watch; also in gen. use, one who keeps watch or acts as a look-out; hence watch-keeping n. and a.; † watch-knoll (-know) Sc. = sense 14; cf. watch-hill; watch lamp, an apparatus for illuminating the face of a watch at night; watch-lining = watch-paper; watch-list, a list of items or names which require close surveillance, esp. for legal or political reasons; † watch-mail, -meal Sc., ‘a duty imposed for maintaining a garrison’ (Jam.); watch mark Naut., a mark worn on the sleeve, indicating the watch to which the wearer belongs; † watch-master (see quot.); watch-mastiff, a mastiff kept as a watch dog; watch-mate, a fellow-member of a ship's watch; † watch-meal (see watch-mail); † watch money, a sum of money paid for watching; watch-nick (see quot.); watch-night, (a) originally a religious service extending over midnight held monthly by Wesleyan Methodists; in later use a service held (by Methodists and others) on New Year's eve, lasting until midnight; also, the night upon which the service is held; (b) W. Afr., a night-watchman; watch-officer, an officer who takes his turn as the officer in charge of the watch; watch-oil, a highly refined lubricating oil used for watches and clocks; watch-paper, a disc of paper, silk, or other material, inscribed or painted with an ornamental design, a picture, rhyme, or other device, inserted as a lining or pad in the outer case of an old-fashioned watch; watch-part = watch train; watch-peal, a warning peal (of a bell); watch-peel (see peel n.1 4); watch-pocket, a small pocket in a garment for carrying a watch; also, a pocket or pouch at the head of a bed, to hold a person's watch at night; watch point, a watching station; watch pole, a watchman's pole or staff; watch-post Mil., a position at which a body of soldiers, a sentinel or watchman, is stationed on watch; also, a body of guards; watch rate, a rate levied by a municipal borough to defray the expenses of watching; watch-riband, -ribbon, a watch-guard in the form of a riband; watch room, a room from or within which a watch is kept; watch round = round n.1 14; watch-seal = seal n.2 3 f; watch-setting Mil., the posting of the watch; watch-spring, the mainspring of a watch; also (without article) as a material; also attrib.; watch-stand, † (a) a look-out position for a sentinel or watchman; (b) a small case or stand in or upon which a watch may be placed so that its face may be seen; † watch-star = guard n. 12; watch-string, a watch-guard of cord; watch-tackle Naut., a tackle (n.) 3 by means of which the watch can perform various operations without the help of additional men; watch train, the set of wheels and pinions which drive the hands of a clock, as distinguished from the striking train; watch-wheel, the balance wheel of the ‘watch-work’ of a clock; also Comb.; watch-woman, (a) a woman who ‘watches’ in a sick room or attends a sick person; (b) a woman who performs the duties of a night watchman; (c) a woman who keeps vigil (nonce-use); † watch-wright, a watchmaker. Also watch-bell, watch-bill, watch-box, watch-case, watch-clock, watch-dog, watch-glass, etc.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Watch-alarm, an instrument with going works to sound an alarm at a specified period.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 1016 The *watch-balls of these first rounds have generally not so deep a colour as if they were tried in a furnace three or four months old.
1606Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. Magnif. 1197 Th' eternall *Watch⁓births of thy [sc. Solomon's] sacred Wit [i.e. his three books: Fr. De ton diuin esprit les veilles eternelles].
1789T. Anburey Trav. Amer. I. 303 We are now within sight of the enemy, and their *watch-boats are continually rowing about. 1892C. R. B. Barrett Essex iii. 50 The Henrietta [pinnace] was at that time [c 1664] acting as watch-boat, and there are many references to its ‘staying’ boats that had used trawls. 1910Times 13 Oct. 14/3 He was hailed by an Icelandic watchboat. The watchboat interrupted their fishing, and finally steamed alongside.
1896Godey's Mag. Apr. 449/1 The *watch bracelet, with its setting of substantial leather, is a convenient adjunct to the cycler.
1601Holland Pliny xvi. xxxvii. I. 485 Rushes..the pith where⁓of..maketh wieke for *watch-candles, and funerall lights. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. iv. §6 For were it not better for a man in a faire roome, to set vp one great light,..than to goe about with a small watch candle into euerie corner? a1711Ken Anodynes Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 421 As in the Night I restless lie, I the Watch-Candle keep in Eye.
1911Webster, *Watch cap, a knitted close-fitting navy blue cap worn by enlisted men in the United States navy in cold or storm. 1966T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 v. 114 He opened his door and found an aged bum with a knitted watch cap on his head. 1977J. F. Fixx Compl. Bk. Running xii. 139 What I've found best is a simple wool hat, the kind sailors call a watch cap. 1984New Yorker 31 Dec. 64/3 Bearded young fishermen, with ponytails coming out from beneath their knitted watch caps.
1845Indiana Mag. Hist. (1927) XXIII. 152 Very much..depends on the..preachers and leaders, who have the after *watch-care of the persons that are brought into the church. 1896Paterson Mag. (U.S.) VI. 253/1 The years of watch-care which she had given to the child left in her charge. 1908D. S. Mackay Relig. of Threshold i. 27 The faith of this man lays hold of God's watch-care in these two extremes of the day.
1739Act 12 Geo. II, c. 26 §13 For assaying..Gold Hooks for *Watch Chains, ten Pence apiece. 1796F. Burney Camilla I. 249 Sir Sedley smiled, and played with his watch chain. 1837Dickens Sk. Boz, Parl. Sk., The..immensely long waistcoat, and silver watch-chain dangling below it.
1944Blunden Cricket Country i. 12 One or two *watch-chained elders. 1976‘R. Gordon’ Doctor on Job xi. 93 Frock-coated and gold watch-chained.
1898H. S. Canfield Maid of Frontier 15 [How's] the little baby I gave the *watch-charm to? 1929W. Faulkner Sound & Fury 99 Father brought back a watch-charm from the Saint Louis Fair. 1979Arizona Daily Star 1 Apr. c4/2 His uniform number and watch-charm size aren't the only distinctive things.
1814Scott Diary 18 Aug. in Lockhart (1837) III. vi. 207 Duff and I sit upon deck, like two great bears, wrapt in *watch-cloaks. 1825― Betrothed xiv, Enveloping himself in his long chappe, or military watch-cloak, he [the Norman soldier] withdrew.
1704in Alice M. Earle Two Cent. Costume Amer. (1903) II. 407 A White Cape⁓cloth *Watch-coat. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 135 There were also several thick Watch-Coats of the Seamens,..but they were too hot to wear. 1827E. Mackenzie Newcastle II. 726 Each watchman is provided with a warm watch-coat, a lanthorn, a rattle. 1848Dickens Dombey xlviii, The Captain..laid her down, and covered her with a great watch-coat.
1756W. Toldervy Hist. 2 Orphans I. 177 ‘I'll warrant ye (said a shrewd lawyer, though not Foxer) this Roebuck left his colours for no good.’ ‘Good! ha,’ cried a great greasy *watch-cobler, ‘'tis my belief that he was reduced for cowardice.’
1835Act 5 & 6 Will. IV, c. 76 §76 The Council..shall..appoint..a sufficient Number of their own Body, who, together with the Mayor..shall be and be called the *Watch Committee for such Borough. 1884Encycl. Brit. XVII. 28/1 The mayor..is ex officio a magistrate for the borough and a member of the watch committee.
1801Scott Glenfinlas xxxix, And by the *watch-fire's glimmering light,..was seen An huntress maid. 1814Byron Corsair i. ii, Such were the notes that from the Pirate's isle Around the kindling watch⁓fire rang the while. 1867M. E. Herbert Cradle L. viii. 215 Watch-fires were lit round the encampment.
1581Styward Martial Discipl. i. 30 The which..except in great extremitie shall be *watch free.
1614in Archæologia XLII. 350 Item a *watche George.
1834Dickens Sk. Boz, Steam Excurs., Miss Emily Taunton was making a *watch⁓guard. 1839― Nich. Nick. ii, The dark-complexioned men who wear large rings and heavy watch-guards.
1768Ann. Reg. 106 A maid-servant at Paddington was accidentally shot by a *watch-gun, which was usually set by the family as a defence against rogues. 1772Regul. H.M. Service at Sea 9 Captains are forbid to fire the Watch-Gun in any Port..unless there be at least Five of H.M. Ships in Company. 1798Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1845) III. 132 The Marquis fired a shot from his morning-gun into the Town... I fire no watch-gun. 1815Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), Watch-Gun, the gun which is fired on board ships of war at the setting of the watch in the evening, and relieving it in the morning.
1773Pennsylv. Gaz. 16 June, Suppl. 2/2 [Advt.] Clock and *watch hands. 1882Minchin Unipl. Kinem. 36 An observer..sees..every point in the body rotated about him in a sense opposite to that of watch-hand rotation. Ibid. 222.
1887Goode Fisheries of U.S. V. ii. 229 (Cent.) The divisions of the crew are known as the starboard and larboard watches, commanded respectively by the first and second mates or the second and third mates, who are known as *watch-headers.
1560in J. Scott Berwick-upon-Tweed (1888) 448 Any man that cometh to the *watch hill and is by the officers to watch. 1895Lakeland Gloss. Suppl., Watch Hill, the hill from which the outlook was kept against border freebooters; hence now frequent as Border place-name.
1698Lond. Gaz. No. 3376/4 A Diamond *Watch-Hook..was lost the 17th instant.
c1500H. Medwall Nature (Brandl) 43 Who taught the cok hys *watche howres to obserue.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 102 *Watch jewellers use a glass with double lenses half an inch in diameter.
1895Daily Chron. 28 Aug. 8/4 *Watch Jobber (Really good) wanted.
1900F. T. Bullen With Christ at Sea xi. 210 The second mate..combined in himself the various offices of bosun, sailmaker, and *watchkeeper. 1920Times Lit. Suppl. 13 May 298/4 He exchanged his duties as a watch-keeper in an ironclad for service in the Cockatrice. 1981J. R. L. Anderson Death in High Latitude ix. 141 We must have someone on watch... And the watchkeeper must have a rifle.
1946C. S. Forester Lord Hornblower iv. 32 Nine years as a captain had not eradicated the habits acquired during a dozen years as a *watchkeeping officer. 1977Proc. R. Soc. Med. LXX. 485/2 A sailor reported recurrent unilateral swelling after watchkeeping.
1645in J. Wilson Annals of Hawick (1850) 65 [A burgess charged with not being present at the riding of the common] confessit he was at the *Watch-Know. [They] assoilzied him of the penalty and fine.
1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 203 Contrivance for a *Watch Lamp..which will show the Hour of the Night, without trouble to a person lying in bed.
1857Dickens Dorrit i. xxx, An old silk *watch-lining, worked with beads!
1974P. Gore-Booth With Great Truth & Respect 238 There had been three categories of control, namely embargo, quantitative restriction and a ‘*watch-list’. 1982‘J. Penn’ Notice of Death xix. 178 The Watch List..a list the officials have at ports of entry, of people who are wanted for one thing or another.
1710Fountainhall Decis. (1761) II. 552 Others more probably conjecture from its name given to it by Skeen, voce Pension..of the *watch-meal of Kilpatrick, that it was for the sustenance of the garrison of Dumbarton.
Ibid., When this *watch-mail was constitute.
1860Stuart Seaman's Catech. (1862) 83 It is now a general rule through⁓out the navy to have ‘*watch marks’ on the sleeve of the frock.
1585Higins Junius' Nomencl. 479/2 Tesserarius,..the *watchmaister, or the sargeant that giueth the charge or watchword to the souldiers.
1778W. Pearce Haunts of Shakespeare 13 Or drowsy *watch-mastiff that bays the sharp wind.
1631L. Fox N.-W. Fox (1635) 174 That no man shall..make any doubt thereof, eyther..at his Messe or to his *Watch-mate. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xvi, About midnight we were waked up by our two watch-mates. 1898F. T. Bullen Cruise of ‘Cachalot’ xiv. 162 All my watchmates were..waiting to be taken on board again.
1628Toke (Kent) Estate Acc. (MS.) fol. 125 *Watch money. c1750in W. Alexander Notes & Sk. 18th Cent. (1877) 66 There is paid in black mail or watch money, openly, or privately, {pstlg}5000.
1897P. Warung Tales Old Régimes 122 Bunt..owned a *watch-nick—a tiny saw filed out of the tempered steel of a watch-spring.
1742Wesley Jrnl. 9 Apr., We had the first *watch-night in London. We commonly choose for this Solemn Service the Friday night nearest the full moon. 1835Court Mag. VI. 70/2 A methodist, she always goes to their chapel on New Year's-eve—or the ‘Watch Night’, as they call it. 1883Pall Mall Gaz. 10 July 10/1 A man..was charged with..annoying the Salvation Army at a ‘watch-night’ service. 1953G. M. Durrell Overloaded Ark vi. 113, I engaged what in the Cameroons is known as Watchnight... There were two reasons for engaging a night watchman: the first..to wake me up. The second..was that he patrolled the edge of the compound..for driver ant columns. 1975J. Wyllie Butterfly Flood (1977) xxxi. 148 The watch night. Where is the watch night?.. The nightwatchman was lying in his reclining chair.
1898Kipling Fleet in Being ii. 29 On a third-class cruiser, he [the Sub] is a *watch-officer.
1870Preece Telegraphy 249 Only good *watch-oil should be employed.
1777in Phil. Trans. LXVII. 335 A *watch-paper..on which there are some very fine hair strokes of a graver. 1818Hazlitt Eng. Poets vii. (1870) 170 Nor did he cut out poetry as we cut out watch-papers. 1858O. W. Holmes Autocrat ix. (1903) 208 He..opened the watch, and handed me the loose outside case without a word.—The watch-paper had been pink once... Two little birds, a flower [etc.]. 1908[Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 21 He wrote minutely the Creed and the Lord's Prayer on watch-papers.
1696W. D[erham] Artif. Clock-m. i. 3 The *Watch-part of a Movement is that which serveth to the measuring the hours.
1656Heylin Surv. France 12 The Protestants, of this Bell [rung at the procession of the host]..use it as a warning or *watch-peal to avoid that street through which they hear it coming.
1882A. Geikie Geol. Sk. i. 7 *Watch-peels, castles, and towers.
1831M. Whalley Let. 15 Feb. in J. Constable Corr. (1962) I. 260 Thanks for..a pair of tastefully & beautifully made *watch pockets. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxxvii, Consulting a copper time-piece which dwelt at the bottom of a deep watch-pocket, and was raised to the surface by means of a black string. 1845D. Jerrold St. Giles xxi, [The] pistols..he attempted to place in the watch-pocket at the head of the bed.
1893J. Watson Conf. Poacher 167 When a constable, then a second, and a third, were all tearing down upon me from *watch points, where they had been in hiding.
1712Steele Spect. No. 358 ⁋1 A Gentleman that has several Wounds in the Head by *Watch Poles.
1852Grote Greece ii. lxxii. IX. 298 The occupation of æolis by the Lacedæmonian general was a sort of *watch-post. 1887Bowen æneid iii. 238 Signal Misenus gives from his watch-post set on the steep. 1888E. D. Gerard Land beyond Forest II. xxxviii. 144 On the extreme frontier of Transylvania, however, he left behind him a portion of his army, to serve as watch-post.
1835Act 5 & 6 Will. IV, c. 76 §92 Provided that in every Case in which before the passing this Act any Rate might be levied in any Borough..for the Purpose of watching..it shall be lawful for the Council of such Borough to levy a *Watch Rate. 1860Smiles Self Help 114 Flaxman..was on one occasion selected by the ratepayers to collect the watch-rate for the parish of St. Anne.
1832Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. I. 82/2 Having changed the wear..of a silk *watch-riband for a chain. 1834Marryat P. Simple iii, The captain gave a youngster five dozen the other day for wearing a scarlet watch-riband.
1804Byron Let. 29 Aug. (1973) I. 51 Do not overlook my *watch ribbon, and purse as I wish to Carry them with me. 1827Disraeli Viv. Grey III. v. vii. 131 Here are Eau de Cologne, violet soap, and watch-ribbons.
1850Ann. Sci. Discovery 73 On the top of the structure [sc. a lighthouse] is the *watch-room, and lantern, or light-room. 1883‘Mark Twain’ Life on Mississippi 338 One of the two establishments where the Government keeps and watches corpses until the doctors decide that they are permanently dead... A wire led to a bell in a watch-room yonder..where a watchman sits always alert. 1943Gloss. Terms Telecomm. (B.S.I.) 85 Watch room, the room, at the fire station, which is continuously staffed and contains the alarm-recording apparatus, call-bell keys and telephonic intercommunicating equipment. 1977Stornoway Gaz. 27 Aug. 1/4 The Commission also want to renovate the existing harbour watchroom to provide welfare facilities for dock workers, a new watchroom, and public toilets. 1979N. Wallington Fireman! iii. 37, I saw..the watchroom into which came all the emergency calls.
1828–43Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 133 Spalding..determined, on the night when it was his turn to take his part in the *watch rounds, to assist the enemy in an escalade.
1798S. Lee Canterb. T., Young Lady's T. II. 151 The *watch-seals..of the Marquis. 1840Carlyle Heroes v. (1841) 293 He does not ‘engrave Truth on his watch-seal’.
1811Regul. & Orders Army 101 After which no Trumpet is to sound, or Drum to beat, in the Garrison, except at *Watch-setting and Tattoo. 1844Ibid. 259 The Trumpet is to sound for Watch-setting, and the Tattoo is to beat at Eight o'clock. 1920Daily Tel. 21 Mar. 10/7 The ceremony of playing ‘Retreat’ on watch⁓setting is observed all over the Empire wherever an infantry battalion is quartered.
1760in Phil. Trans. LI. 829, I cut off several slips from different leaves, each of which I placed between two bits of *watch-spring. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 375 Thin plates..rolled up in the manner of a watch-spring. 1837Dickens Pickw. liv, The fat boy returned, slumbering as peaceably in his dickey, over the stones, as if it had been a down bed on watch-springs. 1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 250 Watch springs are hammered out of round steel wire of suitable diameter, until they fill the gage for width. 1897Daily News 1 June 7/4 The watch-spring steel is manufactured at Sheffield.
1610Healey St. Aug. Citie of God iii. xii. 121 In time of warre, or suspition, the watchmen placed bundels of drye small sticks, vpon their high *watch-stands [L. in editis speculis]. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Watch-stand, a mantel-piece or toilet rest or support for a watch.
1588Ashley Wagenar's Mariners Mirr. B 2 b, If the said *watch stars stand South southwest. [Cf. supra, ‘those Guardes or watches of Vrsa minor’.]
1773Pennsylv. Gaz. 16 June, Suppl. 2/2 [Advt.] Silver and steel watch chains,..silk *watch strings. 1789Trifler No. xxxiii. 427 A gentleman of the present age has seldom more taste than he can..lavish away in the choice of a watch-string.
1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast. xxv, By..clapping *watch-tackles upon all the sheets and halyards, we managed to hold our own.
1838Penny Cycl. XII. 299/1 The one..gives motion to the train of wheels called the going or *watch train; the other to the striking train of wheels. 1894F. J. Britten Former Watch & Clockm. 210 The ‘going’ or ‘watch’ train, that drives the hands.
1568Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 132 For the mendinge of the staye of the *wache while..jd. 1569Ibid. 136 For the mending of the watchwhele of the clock. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 362/1 The Second..is termed the Ballance Wheel of a Clock... Some call it the Wauch Wheel, or Motion Wheel. 1813Examiner 5 Apr. 219/1 R. Payne,..watch-wheel-maker.
1638G. Daniel Eclog i. 170 Thy verse may creepe To Chimneyes, or *watch-women till they sleepe. 1829Good's Study Med. (ed. 3) IV. 96 The mischievous fondness of her nearest relations has since removed this faithful watchwoman [female attendant]. 1836Longfellow Life (1891) I. 245 At Brunnen there is no watchman, but a watchwoman.
1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 75 The *Watch-wrights craft being not only the Ape of Nature, but the very Tool, still in her hand.
▪ II. watch, v.|wɒtʃ|
Pa. tense and pple. watched |wɒtʃt|. Forms: 1 Northumb. wæcca (woæca), pa. tense -wæhte, WSax. only in pres. pple. wæccende, 2– 5 wecche, 4–7 wach(e, 4–5 Sc. vach, (? wauch), 4–6 wacche, 5–6 weche, watche, 6– watch.
[OE. wæcc-, a doublet of wacian wake v. (weak), repr. WGer. *wakǣjan (OHG. wahhên); in WS. only in pres. pple. wæccende, the forms belonging to wacian being used for the other parts of the vb.; in Northumbrian the type wæcc- is alone recorded. For the Teut. and Indogermanic cognates see wake v.]
I. Intransitive uses.
†1.
a. To be or remain awake. Obs.
a1000Rituale Eccles. Dunelm. (Surtees) 28 Sive vigilemus sive dormiamus, Sva hvoeðer we woæca vel we slepa. a1000Riddles xl[i]. 8 Heht me wæccende wunian longe, þæt ic ne slepe siþþan æfre. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 169 He..Slepithe on the day and wacchith al the nyght. 1430–40― Bochas v. vii. (1554) 128 Fyrst the liddes of his eyen twayne, They cut them of..That he not should slepe in prison, But euer watche with paine intollerable. 1590P. Barrough Meth. Phisick i. xv. (1639) 23 If the sick watch overmuch, then you must apply such things as provoke sleep. 1641W. Cartwright Lady Errant ii. ii, Pan. Wee'l keep you, As they doe Hawkes— Cos. Watching untill you leave Your wildness. 1658tr. Lemnius' Secret Mirac. Nat. iii. viii. 211 Hence grew the Proverb, when men have passed a troublesome nights rest..they say, We have had Saint John Baptist's night: That is, we have not taken any sleep, but watcht all night.
†b. To keep awake intentionally. Obs.
c1000Rule of Chrodegang xiv, Eadiᵹe beoð þa þeowan, þe heora hlaford, Þonne he cymð, hi wæccende fint. c1450Cov. Myst., Betray. Christ 18 Petyr, with thi ffelawys here xalt thou abyde, And weche tyl I come ageyn. c1475Partenay 5375 Where it behouith to wacche nightes thre Without Any sompnolent slepe to be. 1602Vaughan Direct. Health in Babees Bk. 252 Watch not too long after supper, but depart within two hours to bed. 1650H. Brooke Conserv. Health 180 The Phlegmatick and Fat should Watch much. 1667Milton P.L. i. 332 As when men wont to watch On duty, sleeping found by whom they dread, Rouse and bestir them⁓selves ere well awake.
c. Of certain flowers: To remain unclosed (during certain hours of the day).
1812New Bot. Gard. I. 51 The flowers [of Anthericum ramosum] watch from seven in the morning to three or four in the afternoon.
d. to watch up: to sit up at night. rare.
1852Thackeray Esmond iii. v, Esmond had seen this gentleman..toiling to give bread to a great family, and watching up many a long winter night to keep the wolf from his door.
e. To remain awake with a sick person or at his bedside, for the purpose of rendering help or comfort.
1691Tilson in Baxter's Certainty Worlds Spirits 148 Between One and Two-a-Clock in the Morning she fell into a Trance. One Widow Turner, who watched with her that Night, says, that [etc.]. a1700Evelyn Diary 6 Mar. 1670, I watched late with him [a brother on his deathbed] this night. 1843Mrs. Browning To Flush vii, This dog watched beside a bed..Where no sunbeam broke the gloom Round the sick and dreary.
2. a. To remain awake for purposes of devotion; to keep vigil.
971Blickl. Hom. 137 Heo wæs wæccende dæᵹes ond nihtes. c1450J. Capgrave St. Gilbert (1910) 121 Aftyr sche had wecchid in deuoute prayeres al a nyte sche went hom hol fro both sores. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 13 He was tempted moost suttelly, he watched, he fasted, he prayed moost besyly. 1570–1Rec. Burgh Lanark (1893) 54 Item, for candill to wyche in the kirk, ij s. 1712P. Metcalfe Life S. Winefride (1917) 18 She watch'd whole Nights in the Church, either kneeling or prostrate before the Altar or [etc.]. 1756–9A. Butler Lives Saints, S. Peter Damian, Peter watched long before the signal for matins, and after with the rest. 1865Swinburne Chastelard iii. i. 90 Fair sir, Give me this hour to watch with and say prayers. 1913W. K. L. Clarke Basil vi. 89 To fast or watch more than the rest is self-will and vain-glory.
b. quasi-trans. with complement. to watch in: to keep vigil to greet (the New Year).
1828Adam Clarke in Life (1840) 454 Mother was not strong enough to watch-in the New Year.
3. a. To be on the alert, to be vigilant; to be on one's guard against danger or surprise.
a1225St. Marher. 15 Ah þeo þet stalewurþe beoð ant starke to ȝein me [sc. Satan], swa þet heo ham wið me ant mine wrenches wecchinde ham werien, so uuel me puncheð þrof þet [etc.]. 1595Shakes. John iv. i. 5 Be heedfull: hence and watch. 1658J. Owen Temptation ii. 30 To watch is as much as to be on our guard, to take heed, to consider all waies, and meanes whereby an enemy may approach to us. 1675― Indwelling Sin viii. (1732) 81 It [sc. sin] adds in its workings, Deceit unto Power. The Efficacy of that must needs be great, and is carefully to be watched against. 1770Goldsm. Des. Vill. 166 But in his duty prompt at every call, He watched and wept, he prayed and felt for all. 1818Scott Rob Roy xxvi, I wad advise ony friends o' mine to gree wi' Rob; for, watch as they like, and do what they like, they are sair apt to be harried when the lang nights come on.
†b. To attend diligently to a duty. Const. upon. Cf. wait v.1 14 d. Obs.
1608Willet Hexapla Exod. 673 With all their heart and endeuour they should watch vpon their office.
4. a. To be on the look out; to keep a person or thing in sight, so as to be aware of any movement or change.
1375Barbour Bruce vi. 87 His twa men bad he..Ga to thair feris to rest and ly; For he vald vach thar com to se. 1547Bk. Marchauntes e j, They haue a .C. eyes euer open to watch as the cat for the mous. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 45 b, The Byshoppe, whiche as the master of a shyppe sitteth watching at the Healme [L. qui tanquam gubernator nauis in specula sedeat intentus]. 1607Chapman Bussy d'Ambois v. iii, Sit vp to night, and watch. 1765Foote Commissary ii. 41 Watch, Simon, that nobody comes up whilst he is here. 1839T. T. Stoddart Songs & P. 40 Quickly lead, Where the roving trout Watches round an eddy, With his eager snout Pointed up and ready. 1845Browning Lost Leader 14 Shakespeare was of us, Milton was for us, Burns, Shelley, were with us,—they watch from their graves! 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxii, Did you ever see a dun, my dear; or a bailiff and his man? Two of the abominable wretches watched all last week at the green⁓grocer's opposite. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. xi. 290, I was to watch, and call out the direction in which he was to run.
b. With indirect question.
1375Barbour Bruce vi. 62, I will ga vach all preuely, Giff I heir oucht of thar cummyng. 1390Gower Conf. I. 163 That made him forto waite and wacche Be alle weies how it ferde. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lxxxiii. 262 We..layde our busshement in a lytell wood a .ii. legees fro this cyte, to watch whan my brother Huon shold passe by that way. 1586Whitney Choice Emblems 3 The Crocodile, by whome th' ægyptians watche, Howe farre that yeare shall mightie Nilus flowe, For theire shee likes to laie her egges and hatche. 1878Tennyson Revenge xi, But they dared not touch us again, for they fear'd that we still could sting, So they watch'd what the end would be. 1888Glasgow Weekly Mail 11 Aug. 5/1 It will behove the people..to watch how the Government may endeavour to pave the way for this change.
c. To be on the watch for opportunities to do something.
1375Barbour Bruce xvii. 930 Bot dede, that vachis ay to mar With all hyr mycht waik and vorthy, Had at his worschip gret invy. 1471Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 327 The Inhumanyte and terrybilite of the habitans and Indwellars, that allway wacche and wayte to do euyll and desplaysir to alle the world. 1697Dryden Virg., Georg. ii. 776 The Groom..stript for Wrestling, smears his Limbs with Oyl, And watches with a Trip his Foe to foil.
d. To be on the watch for (something expected).
1831Scott Cast. Dang. v, The wonderful turns of fate which have attended this fortress, are sufficient to warrant any one to watch for what seem the peculiar indications of the will of Heaven. 1864Trollope Small House at Allington xxvii, But I can see you when you watch for the postman.
e. to watch after (a person): to follow with one's looks, watch the movements of. rare.
1850Thackeray Pendennis lix, You should have seen Fanny Bolton's eyes watching after the dove-coloured young lady! 1852― Esmond ii. x, Then he had seen her but for two days, and fled. Now he beheld her day after day, and when she was at Court watched after her.
f. Cricket. to watch out: = field v. 5.
1786G. White in Life & Lett. (1901) II. 160 Tom bats, his grand-mother bowls, and his great grand-mother watches out!! 1875Baily's Mag. Apr. 403 So narrow is the ground, that long-leg and cover point respectively are quite out of sight, watching out on the hill-side. 1901Winch. Coll. Notions, Watch out, to field at nets for cricket.
g. to watch out (colloq., orig. U.S.): to look out, to be on one's guard.
1845J. J. Hooper Some Adventures Simon Suggs ix. 115 He determined therefore to ‘watch out’ and keep himself ‘whole’ in a pecuniary point of view if possible. a1888J. W. Riley Little Orphant Annie iv, You better mind yer parents,..Er the gobble-uns 'll git you Ef you Don't Watch Out! 1895S. Crane Red Badge i, You watch out, Henry, an' take good care of yerself in this here fighting business. 1909J. Masefield Tragedy of Nan i. 21 You better watch out she don't tread a thy corns. 1918in Times Lit. Supp. 11 July 325/4 The new chantey on Monday morning's route march was a thing to watch out for. 1957R. Lawler Summer of 17th Doll i. i. 19 If you don't watch out, you're gunna start hating the poor bloke before he even gets here.
†h. to watch in: to watch a television programme. Obs.
1928Daily News 17 Dec. 6/4 (heading) Pictures by Wireless. Where to ‘watch-in’ this week.
5. watch over―. To exercise protecting care over; to keep in constant view in order to preserve from harm or error.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 247 b, As heerdmen euer watchynge ouer the flocke of our lorde Jesu. 1655Jer. Taylor Golden Grove, Agenda, Sunday 65 Watch over thy self, counsel thy self,..and judge thy self impartially. 1712Addison Spect. No. 289 ⁋2 That Providence which watches over all its Works. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xxxi. III. 233 But there is a Providence (such at least was the opinion of the historian Procopius) that watches over innocence and folly. 1816J. Wilson City of Plague ii. ii. 216 From heaven fair beings come at night To watch o'er mortals while they sleep. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 404 The eye of the rulers is required always to watch over the young. 1879Lubbock Sci. Lect. v. 166 We cannot put Stonehenge or the Wansdyke into a museum—all the more reason why we should watch over them where they are. 1899Marg. Benson & Gourlay Temple of Mut i. 11 A flock of goats, watched over by an Arab girl.
6. a. To fulfil the duty of a watchman, sentinel, or guard.
1375Barbour Bruce x. 572 Vp to the wall I sall ȝow bring, Gif god vs kepis fra persaving Of thame that wachis on the wall. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 407 Him behouit neidlingis to watche on the wald. 1538Elyot Dict., Excubo, to watche, as they whiche in battaylle, or in the garde of a pryncis personne doo. 1540Hoby in Lett. Suppress. Monasteries (Camden) 284 Besydes that hit did cost me money to persons ffor a long tyme nyghtly to weche and to take hede lest any thyng shuld to be mysordered there. 1576S'hampton Crt. Leet Rec. (1905) I. i. 131 That every householder..should watche in proper person or at the least provide a good honest and able watcheman for the more suertie and save garde of the towne. 1623in Rymer Fœdera (1707) XVII. 529 The Lord Mayor shall cause certain Persons to watch at the Gates, and other like places in the Suburbs where Flesh may be brought, to view and search and to intercept the same. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 84 Great Lords and rich Merchants have a Guard in their Courts, who watch all night. a1700Evelyn Diary 6 Aug. 1641, I watched on a horne worke neere our quarters. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ii, Peter was ordered to watch at the door.
† quasi-trans. with complement. nonce-use.
1659Nicholas Papers (Camden) IV. 192 Y⊇ army men are almost watched off theire legs.
†b. to watch and ward: to keep ‘watch and ward’. Also fig. (For the transitive use see 10.)
1583Babington Command. x. (1590) 444 No more quench you the fire by withdrawing y⊇ wood, than assuredly you stay the course of wicked conceits, when you watch and ward well ouer your senses. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. viii. 2 They for vs fight, they watch and dewly ward, And their bright Squadrons round about vs plant. 1601W. Parry Trav. Sir A. Sherley 6 Either party lived watching and warding. 1620Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 242 To a man, watchinge and wardinge at Burneley faire, iiijd. 1681W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1296 To watch and ward, excubare. 1693Urquhart's Rabelais iii. Prol. 4 Every one did watch and ward, and not one was exempted from carrying the Basket.
c. Of a sailor: To be on duty during a watch.
1799Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1844) I. 5, I was placed in the Seahorse of 20 guns, with Captain Farmer, and watched in the foretop. 1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 235 Each man watches four hours, and rests eight.
†7. Hunting. Of an otter: To retreat into its lair. Obs. Cf. 17.
1677N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. i. (ed. 2) 10 An Otter Watcheth. 1686R. Blome Gentl. Recreat. ii. 76 A Fox Kennelleth, a Badger Eartheth, an Otter Watcheth, a Boar Coucheth.
8. Naut.
†a. Of the timbers of a ship: ? To work loose. Obs.
b. Of a buoy: To float on the surface of the water.
1633–4Admir. Ct. Exam. 50, 21 Jan. (MS.), Whilest she was at sea the beames did watch and worke too and froe. 1805Naval Chron. XIII. 328 The Pilots..swept for and weighed (as no buoys watched) the four anchors. 1865Gosse Land & Sea 84 All the buoys had not yet ‘watched’ but there was a tremendous sea running.
II. Transitive uses.
†9.
a. To keep under surveillance (a prisoner, a besieged army) in order to prevent escape or rescue; to set an armed watch upon (a place, road, passage). Obs.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 5086 He dide sette in wardes seers Knyghte to wachem [v.r. waite], & squiers. c1375Cursor M. 16893 (Fairf.) And for that skylle lette wacche hym [sc. Jesus in the tomb] Thre dais we you pray. a1400Sqr. lowe Degre 997 Than he watched your Chambre bryght, With men of armes hardy and wyght, For to take that squyer. a1400Morte Arth. 1613 That they be weisely wachede and in warde holdene. c1470Henry Wallace iii. 70 In a schaw..Thai lugyt thaim..To wache the way als besyly as thai mycht. Ibid. v. 239 Schyr Jhone Butler, to wache the furdis rycht, Out fra his men of Wallace had a sicht. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 712 They should be kept, and with such vigilant persons continually watched. 1579Hake Newes out of Powles (1872) B ij b, This Nummus nowe..Is straightly watchte, and hardly kept with men of each degree.
b. To guard (a dead body, goods).
1450Lomner Let. 5 May in Paston Lett. I. 125 And the shreue of Kent doth weche the body. 1587Acc. Mary Q. Scots (Camden) 60 And for ij men hired to watch the plate at Ware and Peterborowe, iiij nights, vj s. viij d. 1697Dryden æneis xi. 45 Acœtes watch'd the Corps. 1823‘Jon Bee’ Dict. Turf s.v. Wake, He, also, ‘died one day,’ so they say, and his ever-faithful groom watched the body during the night. 1884‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xxvii, I peeped through a crack of the dining-room door, and see the men that was watching the corpse all sound asleep on their chairs. 1886C. Scholl Phraseol. Dict. II. 834 The goods were watched all night by a watchman.
†10.
a. To guard against attack; to provide with a body of guards or armed watchmen; to serve as a guard to. Also to watch and ward (cf. 6 b).
1375Barbour Bruce xv. 128 Bot for the trewis he lefit noucht Wachis till set to the castele; Ilk nycht he gert men wach it wele. a1400Morte Arth. 547 He wylle werraye i-wysse, be ware ȝif the lykes, Wage many wyghtemene, and wache thy marches. Ibid. 613 Thane yschewes þe emperour..Arayede with his Romaynes..Sexty geauntes be-fore,..With weches and warlaws to wacchene his tentys. c1450Merlin xi. 166 Than thei leged and pight teyntes and pavilouns, and hem rested, and lete the hoste be wacched. 1451Paston Lett. I. 199 Gonnor was wetched at Felbrygge Halle with xl. persones of the Lady Felbryggs tenaunts. 1549–62Sternhold & H. Ps. cxxvii. 1 Likewise in vaine men vndertake, Cities and holdes to watch and ward. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 207 The King of Indians was watched with foure and twenty Elephants. 1819Scott Noble Moringer x, Wilt thou receive this weighty trust when I am o'er the sea? To watch and ward my castle strong, and to protect my land.
†b. refl. To guard oneself. Obs.
1375Barbour Bruce i. 520 For thar is nothir duk ne baroun,..That euir may wauch hym with tresoune!
11. To keep (a person or thing) in view in order to observe any actions, movements, or changes that may occur.
a. with obj. a person (or animal). Sometimes implying the intent to attack or capture.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 177 Hauing once this iuyce Ile watch Titania, when she is asleepe, And drop the liquor of it in her eyes. 1650Hamilton Papers (Camden) 255 Evre since I came hether I have bine so narowly wached by the severe Christans that I could not answer your letter before now. 1675Charac. Town-Gallant (1872) 2 He watches Wenches just as Tumblers do Rabbits. 1821Scott Kenilw. viii, Here has been my hang-dog kinsman watching you as close as ever cat watched a mouse. 1831James Phil. Augustus v, He became aware that he was watched by a party of men, whose appearance had nothing in it very consolatory to the journeyer of those days. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop ix, She would take her station here, at dusk, and watch the people as they passed up and down the street. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxxv, I watch thee from the quiet shore; Thy spirit up to mine can reach. 1902Buchan Watcher by Threshold 81, I had not gone twenty yards..ere I knew I was watched. 1917Eng. Hist. Rev. Oct. 495 To divide them [the Marches] between the Nevilles and the Percies, setting each to watch the other.
b. with obj. a thing.
c1515Cocke Lorell's B. 12 One kepte y⊇ compas, and watched y⊇ our glasse. 1645Stapylton tr. Musæus C 2, On her high turret Hero watcht the flame, And as stiffe gales from any quarter came, Still screen'd it with the sacred robe she wore. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. iv. 278 Within the shadow of the ship I watched their rich attire; Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, They coiled and swam. 1834Dickens Sk. Boz, Boarding-ho. i, ‘You don't think it's at all an out-of-the-way affair then?’ asked Mr. Septimus Hicks, who had watched the countenance of Tibbs in mute astonishment. 1886Ruskin Præterita I. iv. 124 But before everything, at this time, came my pleasure in merely watching the sea. 1900G. C. Brodrick Mem. & Impr. 293 There we lay, surrounded by twenty or thirty ships..all assembled on the same errand, vainly watching the heavens. 1908[Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 361 We have watched the red and blue Harvest-waggons.
c. with obj. a process or course of events.
1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iii. 73 Thus long haue we stood To watch the fearefull bending of thy knee. 1655Walton Angler x. (1661) 173 Watch their going forth of their holes and returning. 1827Faraday Chem. Manip. xix. (1842) 500 By this arrangement..the operations..are more conveniently watched. 1831James Phil. Augustus iii, While the hermit held the arm from which the blood was just beginning to flow, she..anxiously watched the returning animation. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 662 It was remarked by those who watched their deportment that they had come back from the carnage of Taunton in a fierce and excited state.
d. with adv. or phrase as complement.
1660Nicholas Papers (Camden) IV. 237 [He] was there discourd by..Colonel Eubank and watcht to his lodging. 1840Thackeray Shabby-genteel Story v, Many a time had she..painted herself as Helen, tying a sash round her knight's cuirass, and watching him forth to battle. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xiii, Didn't I watch him into Codger's commercial boarding-house, and watch him out, and watch him home to his hotel. 1848― Dombey viii, Then he would turn his head, and watch the child away, and say [etc.]. 1849C. Brontë Shirley xxxiii, He watched her down: he watched her in: himself shut the door: he knew she was safe. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xvii, He looked out for a perfectly solitary spot where he..could watch out the light of sunset.
e. with accus. and inf. (without to) or pres. pple.
1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton xxxi, Mary watched the boatman leave the house. 1859Thackeray Virgin. xvii, Lady Maria..scarcely lifted up her head from her embroidery, to watch the aunt retreating. 1859FitzGerald Omar xxxvi, For in the Market-place, one Dusk of Day, I watch'd the Potter thumping his wet Clay. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxv. 183 Lying upon my back, I watched the clouds forming. 1896A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad lxii, They put arsenic in his meat And stared aghast to watch him eat. 1908[Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 41 We used to watch the small bees going in and out of a hole in the wall.
12. a. To keep in mental view; to keep oneself informed about (a course of events, etc.).
1675Dryden Aurengz. iii. (1676) 36 No hour of pleasure should pass empty by, Youth should watch joys, and shoot 'em as they flie. 1677Earl of Essex in Essex Papers (Camden) II. 117 Hee parted here with great professions of friend⁓ship..yet however I would be glad you did a little watch his proceedings. 1797Godwin Enquirer i. vi. 41 We must watch their minutest actions. 1838Thirlwall Greece xliv. V. 357 We cannot believe that he..would willingly have foregone the opportunity of watching the proceedings of his colleagues. 1843R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. ix. 99 The cerebral symptoms should be always watched with the most unremitting and anxious attention. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 535 The war which was then raging in Hungary..was watched by all Europe with interest almost as great as that which the Crusades had excited five hundred years earlier. 1868E. Edwards Ralegh I. v. 78 The natural jealousy of the Spaniards watched every naval enterprise of Englishmen. 1871Dale Commandm. viii. 204 Merchants watch the rise and fall of the markets in remote countries. 1886Ruskin Præterita II. i. 25 [My father] watched with some anxiety the use I should make of this first command of money. 1897J. L. Allen Choir Invisible xxiii. 347 She had never ceased to watch his career as part of her very life.
b. To be on the alert to avail oneself of (opportunities, advantages); to be vigilant to choose (one's time for action); † to look out for, wait expectantly for (some coming event).
1578H. Wotton Courtlie Controv. 97 Ponifre gaue a golden fee vnto his olde attorney, who watching hir time, employed all hir wicked inuentions which she had by long vse..collected. c1590Marlowe & Nashe Dido iii. ii. 824 O no, God wot, I cannot watch my time, Nor quit good turnes with double fee downe told. 1592Kyd Sol. & Pers. i. ii. 30, I, watch you vauntages? 1617Moryson Itin. i. 228 But it is the custome, that he that hath once payed the tribute may any time after enter this Church without paying any thing, if he can watch the opportunity of other Christians entering the same. 1639J. Clarke Parœm. 237 He that meanes to make a good market of his ware, must watch an opportunity to open his shop. 1642J. Taylor (Water P.) Life Walker A 2 b, Walker stood watching the Kings comming by. 1763Colman Jealous Wife iii. 54 Did not She watch her Opportunity and come to You just as I went out? 1821Scott Kenilw. xxvii, It was thus that he met not Wayland, who was impatiently watching his arrival. 1837Dickens Pickw. ii, Mr. Winkle eagerly watched his opportunity: it was not long wanting. 1886C. Scholl Phraseol. Dict. II. 834 You must watch your opportunity to sell the goods... Watch the best opportunity for selling.
c. Of a barrister: To attend the trial of (a case) in order to note any point that may arise to affect the interests of a client who is not a party in the litigation, and to raise objections to any questions or evidence that may be inadmissible as compromising the client.
1890M. Williams Leaves I. 87 Serjeant Ballantine's clerk..came up and asked me whether, as his chief was absent, I would watch a case that was about to be argued.
d. To exercise care, caution, or restraint about (something). to watch one's step: see step n. 10 b.
1837H. Martineau Society in Amer. I. ii. 187 The valetudinarians of the place..watch their own and each others' weight. 1958‘Castle’ & Hailey Flight into Danger i. 23 You'd better watch that waistline, Pete. 1963‘W. Haggard’ High Wire iv. 40 Rex said deliberately: ‘I have to watch champagne.’ ‘Really? But this one won't damage you.’ 1969G. Croudace Blackadder iv. 32 Pauline ate nothing but a small, lightly-grilled steak and a lettuce leaf; it was obvious that she had to watch her weight. 1976M. Machlin Pipeline lvii. 573 Just watch your mouth... A man died here tonight. 1981G. Markstein Ultimate Issue 26 It was a comparatively shabby office... Euram Marketing gave a distinct impression of watching the pennies.
e. to watch it: to be careful. Freq. as imp. (as a threat or warning). colloq.
1916‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin vi. 100 ‘Don't yer go lendin' money to any other blokes wot ain't fit to be trusted.’ ‘I'll watch it.’ 1943K. Tennant Ride on Stranger xviii. 203 You're not getting any younger yourself, kid. You want to watch it. 1954W. Faulkner Fable 334 ‘All right,’ the corporal said. ‘Watch it now.’ 1966‘W. Cooper’ Mem. New Man ii. iv. 144, I replied in the proletarian vernacular of the times. ‘Watch it!’ 1978D. Bloodworth Crosstalk xxii. 170 We really do have to watch it a bit. Thank God we're officially engaged.
13. a. To exercise protecting vigilance over; to tend (a flock).
1526Tindale Luke ii. 8 There were..shepherds..watching their flocke by nyght. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 156 Man he made..and, O indignitie! Subjected to his service Angel wings, And flaming Ministers to watch and tend Thir earthie Charge. 1700Tate Suppl. to New Vers. Ps. 8 While Shepherds watch'd their Flocks by Night. 1848Longfellow Resignation 1 There is no flock, however watched and tended, But one dead lamb is there!
b. To sit up beside (a sick person) in order to render help; to keep watch beside (a dead body).
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 20 b, I am the soule of hym that thou watched the last nyght. 1590Aldeburgh Rec. in N. & Q. 12th Ser. VII. 504/1 P[ai]d to Durrants wyfe for watchinge of Father profet,..iiid. a1592Greenes Vision Wks. (Grosart) XII. 233 Tomkins..saw hee was in his bed,..watcht by his mother and his wife.
†14. To do (a person a good or bad turn); to contrive (mischief). Obs.
App. a substitute for wait v.2, suggested by the synonymity of wait v.1 and watch.
a1586Sidney Ps. xvii. viii, Yet their high hartes looke so low As how to watch our overthrow. 1586W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie (Arb.) 56 Which iniury though he meanes to doo me in myrth, yet I hope he wyll make me some suffycient recompence, or els I shall goe neere to watch hym the like or a worse turne. 1639J. Clarke Parœm. 173 Harme watch harme catch. Ibid. 209 I'le watch you a good turne. 1705Hickeringill Priest-cr. 16 But look to't, Harm watch, harm catch: If you will needs bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
15. To provide (a town) with watchmen. In pass., to be policed by a specified body of men.
1806J. Carr Stranger in Ireland 52 At night the city is admirably watched and patroled. Most of the watchmen are armed with muskets, others with a pike [etc.]. 1834Picture of Liverpool 47 The Commissioners for Watching and Lighting the town. 1909Rep. H.M. Inspectors of Constabulary 45 The municipal boroughs of Maidenhead and Newbury are watched by the county constabulary.
16. Falconry. To prevent (a hawk) from sleeping, in order to tame it.
c1575Perf. Bk. Kepinge Sparhawkes (1886) 16 Note, neuer wache sorehawke for then you take her stomake awaye, the rye cometh on so fast, & so hurt her. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 198 Another way I haue to man my Haggard, To make her come, and know her Keepers call: That is, to watch her, as we watch these Kites. 1604― Oth. iii. iii. 23 My Lord shall neuer rest, Ile watch him tame, and talke him out of patience. 1606― Tr. & Cr. iii. ii. 43 What are you gone againe, you must be watcht ere you be made tame, must you? 1689Selden's Table-Talk 31 Lecturers..preach the People tame (as a man watches a Hawk) and then they do what they list with them.
17. Hunting. To track (an otter) into its lair.
1576Turberv. Venerie 241 We watch and vent an Otter. 1686R. Blome Gentl. Recreat. ii. 76 Terms for Lodging and Dislodging of Beasts... Watch and Vent the Otter. 1688[see vent v. 17 b]. |