watch

/ˈwɒt͡ʃ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/ˈwɔt͡ʃ/

watch noun: a portable or wearable timepiece.

Image: Roger McLassus 1951, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

watch (plural watches)

A portable or wearable timepiece.
- Meronyms: watch face, watch receiver, watchspring, watch battery, watchstrap, watch strap, watchband
- More people today carry a watch on their wrists than in their pockets; some people today don't use a watch at all, because their smartphone serves the purpose well enough.
The act of guarding and observing someone or something.
- shepherds keeping watch by night1667, John Milton, “Book XII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- All the long night their mournful watch they keep.1717, Joseph Addison, Metamorphoses
A particular time period when guarding is kept.
- The second watch of the night began at midnight.
- I did stand my watch upon the hill.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
A period of wakefulness between the two sleeps of a biphasic sleep pattern (the dead sleep or first sleep and morning sleep or second sleep): the first waking.
A person or group of people who guard.
- The watch stopped the travelers at the city gates.
- Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch; go your way, make it as sure as ye can.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 27:65
The post or office of a watchman; also, the place where a watchman is posted, or where a guard is kept.
- He upbraids Iago, that he made him
  Brave me upon the watch.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
A group of sailors and officers aboard a ship or shore station with a common period of duty: starboard watch, port watch.
A period of time on duty, usually four hours in length; the officers and crew who tend the working of a vessel during the same watch. (FM 55–501).
The act of seeing, or viewing, for a period of time.
- A quick watch of Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange sends this reality home fast. Amoral, vacuous, cold-blooded, unsympathetic, and chillingly evil describe only parts of the story.2004, Charles P. Nemeth, Criminal law
- The first third of the film is laugh after laugh; […] But half an hour in and this movie gets unnervingly dark and is an uncomfortable watch at times.2016 August 11, Andrew Bullock, “David Brent REVIEW: Life on the Road goes from painfully funny to just plain painful. Ouch”, in Sunday Express
(collective, rare) A group of nightingales.
- sirens were singing like a watch of nightingales1921, John Galsworthy, The Works of John Galsworthy, volume 16, Charles Scribner's Sons, page 419
- it was as if sunshine and a watch of nightingales had come into a sombre forest1927, Alfred Tresidder Sheppard, Here Comes an Old Sailor, page 267

Verb

watch (third-person singular simple present watches, present participle watching, simple past and past participle watched)

(ambitransitive) To look at, see, or view for a period of time.
- Watching the clock will not make time go faster.
- I'm tired of watching TV.
(transitive) To observe over a period of time; to notice or pay attention.
- Watch this!
- Put a little baking soda in some vinegar and watch what happens.
(transitive) To mind, attend, or guard.
- Please watch my suitcase for a minute.
- He has to watch the kids that afternoon.
(transitive) To be wary or cautious of.
- You should watch that guy. He has a reputation for lying.
(transitive) To attend to dangers to or regarding.
- watch your head; watch your step
- Watch yourself when you talk to him.
(intransitive) To remain awake with a sick or dying person; to maintain a vigil.
- At the funeralls in Yorkeshire, to this day, they continue the custome of watching & sitting-up all night till the body is interred.1687, John Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme, page 30
(intransitive) To be vigilant or on one's guard.
- For some must watch, while some must sleep: So runs the world away.
(intransitive) To act as a lookout.
- "[…] Scarcely a night passes without the light showing, and there's no doubt that the water runs. We've put copying ink on the door handles and the taps and got into it ourselves until there isn't a man about the place that you couldn't implicate."
  "Has anyone watched up there?"1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC
To serve the purpose of a watchman by floating properly in its place.
(intransitive, obsolete) To be awake.
- So on the morne Sir Trystram, Sir Gareth and Sir Dynadan arose early and went unto Sir Palomydes chambir, and there they founde hym faste aslepe, for he had all nyght wacched […]1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X
(obsolete, transitive) To be on the lookout for; to wait for expectantly.
- [S]he had reason to dread that her husband had formed a very criminal project of being revenged on Zeluco, and watched an opportunity of putting it in execution.1789, John Moore, Zeluco, Valancourt, published 2008, page 80

watch meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

watch in Hindi

portable or wearable timepiece: घड़ी ghaṛī, वॉच vŏc
to look at for a period of time: देखना dekhnā
to observe: अवलोकन avlokan
to attend or guard: पहरा pahrā

watch in Tamil

portable or wearable timepiece: கைக்கடிகாரம் kaikkaṭikāram
the act of guarding: கண்காணித்தல் kaṇkāṇittal
person or group of people who guard: காவலாளி kāvalāḷi
to observe: கண்காணித்தல் kaṇkāṇittal

watch in Marathi

portable or wearable timepiece: घड्याळ ghaḍyāḷ

watch in Urdu

portable or wearable timepiece: گَھڑی ghaṛī, واچ vāc
to look at for a period of time: دیکْھنا dekhnā

More languagesFewer languages

watch in Bengali: ঘড়ি ghoṛi, হাতঘড়ি hatghôṛi
watch in Telugu: చేతి గడియారం cēti gaḍiyāraṁ, కాపలాదారు kāpalādāru, కాపు ఉండు kāpu uṇḍu
watch in Malayalam: കാണുക kāṇuka, കാവൽ നിൽക്കുക kāval nilkkuka
watch in Kannada: ಗಡಿಯಾರ gaḍiyāra
watch in Punjabi: ਪਹਿਰਾ pahirā, ਨਿਗਰਾਨੀ nigrānī, تکنا takkṇā, دیکھنا dekhaṇā
watch in Gujarati: ઘડિયાળ ghaṛiyāḷ
watch in Odia: ଜଗିବା jagibā, ଚଉକି cauki
watch in Sanskrit: पाति pāti
watch in Sinhala: යම yama
watch in Assamese: ঘড়ী ghori
watch in Tagalog: relos, orasan, manood, magmasid
watch in Arabic: سَاعَة sāʕa, حَارِس ḥāris, شَاهَدَ šāhada, تَفَرَّجَ tafarraja
watch in Malay: jam tangan, tengok, layan, menyaksikan
watch in Indonesian: jam tangan, menonton
watch in Persian: نِگاه کَرْدَن negâh kardan, تماشا کردن tamâšâ kardan, نظاره کردن, پاییدن pâyidan
watch in Thai: นาฬิกาข้อมือ naa-lí-gaa-kɔ̂ɔ-mʉʉ, นาฬิกาพก, ดู duu, ชม chom
watch in Vietnamese: đồng hồ, xem, coi, nhìn
watch in Myanmar: လက်ပတ်နာရီ lakpatnari, နာရီ nari, ကြည့် krany.

Examples of watch in a sentence

He set the alarm on his watch to 8:00 am.
It is my watch and I find it a terrible time to act as sentry.1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 30:
Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
They watch it all th' time b'cause they know blame well there ain't hardly room fer their feet fer th' pikers an' tin-horns an' thimble-riggers what are layin' fer 'em. […]”1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock:

All 40 example sentences with watch

Antonyms of watch

ignore

Forms of watch

Noun
plural	watches
Verb
third-person singular present	watches
present participle	watching
past participle	watched
past	watched
second-person singular present (archaic)	watchest
second-person singular past (archaic)	watchedst
third-person singular present (archaic)	watcheth

Past tense of watch: watched

Plural of watch: watches

Origin of watch

As a noun, from Middle English wacche, from Old English wæċċe. See below for verb form.

From Middle English wacchen, from Old English wæċċan, from Proto-West Germanic *wakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *wakjaną. Cognate with Dutch wekken, German wecken, Danish vække, Norwegian Bokmål vekke, Norwegian Nynorsk vekkja, Swedish väcka, Faroese and Icelandic vekja.

Phrases with watch

82 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with watch

Questions about watch

What does watch mean?: Watch means a portable or wearable timepiece.
What is watch in Hindi?: Watch in Hindi is घड़ी (ghaṛī), वॉच (vŏc), देखना (dekhnā). See Watch meaning in Hindi.
How do you use watch in a sentence?: He set the alarm on his watch to 8:00 am.
What part of speech is watch?: Watch can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce watch?: Watch is pronounced /ˈwɒt͡ʃ/ (UK).
What is the plural of watch?: The plural of watch is watches.

Words near watch in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: watch (page history and authors); تکنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ઘડિયાળ (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ଚଉକି (Odia) (page history and authors); යම (Sinhala) (page history and authors); ঘড়ী (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-gb-watch.ogg, en-us-watch.ogg.

Cite this entry: “watch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/watch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.