| 释义 |
▪ I. watcher, n.|ˈwɒtʃə(r)|
[f. watch v. + -er1.]
One who watches or keeps watch. a. gen. Often const. of, also over.
1572Huloet (ed. Higins), Watcher, insidiator, insidiosus. 1611B. Jonson Catiline iii i, That will Antonius make his care..And watch the watcher. 1812Examiner 24 Aug. 544/1 You heard the watchers exclaim—‘Put up the lights.’ 1817Keats Sonn. xi, Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken. 1848Dickens Dombey xlii, The smooth, sleek watcher of his slightest look and tone. 1859Tennyson Vivien 556 Sir Valence..Whose kinsman left him watcher o'er his wife And two fair babes. 1885Manch. Exam. 29 May 5/3 Nothing is at present divulged to the public; but the eyes of interested watchers cannot be altogether closed.
b. said of the eye. poet.
1591Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 135 Loue hath chas'd sleepe from my enthralled eyes, And made them watchers of mine owne hearts sorrow. 1824Hood Two Swans 108 On his doubtful face Gleam his unwearied eyes, red watchers of the place. 1847Tennyson Princess iv. 306 To an eye like mine A lidless watcher of the public weal, Last night, their mask was patent.
c. One who keeps awake at night. Also night watcher.
1509Barclay Ship of Fools (1874) I. 296 Of nyght watchers and beters of the stretes playnge by nyght on instrumentes and vsynge lyke Folyes whan tyme is to rest. 1605Shakes. Macb. ii. ii. 71 Get on your Night-Gowne, least occasion call vs, And shew vs to be Watchers. 1861Fane & Lytton Tannhäuser 78 She kneel'd, A faded watcher through the weary night,..In deep, perpetual prayer for him she loved. 1867M. E. Herbert Cradle L. iv. 117 There two figures are kneeling, motionless and absorbed in prayer... Still the two watchers kneel on.
d. One who watches by a sick bed, or by the dead.
c1555Life Bp. Fisher (E.E.T.S.) 127 Whervpon two of the watchers tooke it [the dead body] vpon a halbert betweene them. 1764Low Life 9 Women, called Watchers, in Hospitals, taking the Advantage of their Patients being asleep, to pick their Pockets. 1847Tennyson Princess v. 59 And at her head a follower of the camp..Sat watching like a watcher by the dead. 1849C. Brontë Shirley xxv, Then the watcher approaches the patient's pillow. 1885Lancet 4 Apr. 630/1 Then there are the ‘watchers’, who belong to the Jewish community, and combine the office of a nurse with certain religious functions.
e. One who is occupied in watching; a watchman, guard, sentry, or the like. Also with defining word, as river-watcher, night-watcher.
1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xlix. 61 b, On y⊇ mountaynes & hylles costyng the see..were set watche men & watchers in dyuers maners. 1838Bentley's Misc. III. 274 An inspection was immediately carried on with an earnestness worthy of two watchers at a night-telegraph during a time of war. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xxii, The heavy footfall of the official watcher of the night. 1884Manch. Exam. 10 Oct. 5/1 A river watcher..and two boys..lost their lives by the capsizing of a boat. 1896H. G. Wells Wheels of Chance xvii, There are detectives of an inferior description—watchers. 1897Crockett Lads' Love xix. 203 The gamekeepers and water-bailiffs—the ‘watchers’ as they were called. 1904Times 31 Mar. 9/4 Davies had first been an office-boy and was now a watcher.
f. as the title of a class of angels or of angels generally; tr. Aramaic ﻋīr, one who is wakeful.
1535Coverdale Dan. iv. 13 And beholde, a watcher (euen an holy angel) came downe from heauen. 1576A. G[ilby] Test. 12 Patriarchs (1581) 11 For by such meanes were y⊇ Watchers deceiued before the floud. a1711Ken Psyche Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 312 They Watchers are, and with obsequious Wing Leave Heav'n for Earth, God's Messages to bring. 1801W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XI. 20 (tr. Bk. Enoch) All were afraid, even the watchers of the host. 1846Keble Lyra Innoc. (ed. 3) 26 And by those features,..Heaven's keen-eyed Watchers haply mete What mortals holy deem. a1908C. Bigg Orig. Christianity viii. 83 Six angels build the Tower: they are the Archangels, the First Created, the Watchers of Enoch.
†g. Astr. (pl.) = guard n. 12, warden n.1 1 b.
1588Ashley Wagenar's Mariners Mirr. B 2 b, When those Guardes or watchers of Vrsa minor being mounted higher. Ibid., The Guards or watchers are to be placed in this Instrument exactly opposite to their due place.
h. With preceding n. in objective relation, freq. hyphenated: an expert student or one who follows the affairs of (a particular person, country, or institution). colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1966N.Y. Times 27 Dec. 10/3 That was the major question of the ‘China watchers’ as Mao observed his birthday without public fanfare yesterday. 1971N.Y. Post 20 Dec. 40 The Nixon-watchers..would construe Kissinger's return to Cambridge as a potential calamity. 1972Jrnl. Linguistics VIII. i. 125 MIT-watchers have lately been puzzled by a division within the movement. 1974Guardian 26 Mar. 16/1 As one experienced Brussels-watcher put it yesterday, Mr Peart has discovered how flexible the Treaty of Accession can be. 1974Kremlin-watcher [see Kremlin]. 1975Times 19 June 14/8 The meeting..achieved a level of futility which left even hardened EEC watchers groggy. 1976New Yorker 8 Mar. 27/3 When Confucius first came under attack, professional China-watchers speculated that the criticism had allegorical overtones. 1978Guardian Weekly 23 Apr. 17/3 A veteran Shah-watcher said, ‘He realises the extent of present and future problems.’
†i. watcher-in. A television viewer. Cf. watch v. 4 h. Obs.
1928Daily News 17 Dec. 6/4 Watchers-in will be able to judge for themselves the value of picture transmissions during this week.
▪ II. watcher int.
see watcha. |