Definition of nightwatchman in English:
nightwatchman
nounPlural nightwatchmen nʌɪtˈwɒtʃmən
1A person whose job is to guard a building at night.
Example sentencesExamples
- They broke into the store and looked for the nightwatchman.
- Some trainers have nightwatchmen and some don't.
- Male residents were forced to act as nightwatchmen and to help dig trenches.
- When the nightwatchman discovered the door unlocked and someone sleeping inside, he turned the key in the lock.
- The director, who ran a demolition company, had been standing in for the nightwatchman at the compound.
- I was a scab office cleaner during a labor strike of cleaners, nightwatchmen & porters, but I lost the contract when the offices I was cleaning were sabotaged by strikers.
- In a struggle the nightwatchman punches him and the accused then kills the nightwatchman.
- The plaintiff was the wife of one of three nightwatchmen who had gone to the defendant's hospital after drinking some tea and becoming ill.
- Nightwatchmen in Nairobi munch it to stay alert through the dangerous nights in the crime-ridden capital.
- The original versions of the York Waits also worked as nightwatchmen and barely had enough money to mend their costumes.
- The four are interrupted by the nightwatchman, Victor.
- A nightwatchman later overheard him bragging about his duplicity and arrested him.
- He was accused of threatening a nightwatchman with a pistol and was acclaimed as a martyr when he maintained his innocence, refusing to name the true culprit.
- He also served, when necessary, in the role of nightwatchman, guarding all the horses and vehicles of the royal carriage and hobby stables.
- He moonlights as a nightwatchman at the Meadowbank leisure centre in Edinburgh.
Synonyms
sentry, sentinel, security guard
2Cricket
An inferior batsman sent in to bat when a wicket falls just before the end of a day's play, to avoid the dismissal of a better one in adverse conditions.
Example sentencesExamples
- The youngster was not always composed but displayed an exuberance reminiscent of Alex Tudor's match-winning innings as a nightwatchman at Edgbaston last year.
- If Australia had sent two nightwatchmen out to bat last night, and the rains came before a ball had been bowled, would the same two batsmen have to start the innings this morning?
- A few weeks later he achieved a career-best 89 not out for Yorkshire after going in as a nightwatchman.
- I think there's a jinx with nightwatchmen in the South African team.
- It was nice to get a little bit of a first innings lead and have them one down with the nightwatchman in, so hopefully we can capitalise on that tomorrow and put them under a bit of pressure.