Word.ws English Dictionary

watched one's back

watched one's back is the simple past and past participle of watch one's back.

Meaning of watch one's back

Verb

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

  1. (literally) To remain wary of being attacked from behind by surprise; to remain watchful to prevent a predictable attack from being a surprise.
    • the kind of dive bar where you better watch your back
  2. (figuratively) To be wary of betrayal or an otherwise unexpected attack.
    • the kind of office gossip that prompts you to watch your back

Questions about watched one's back

What is watched one's back the simple past and past participle of?
Watched one's back is the simple past and past participle of watch one's back.

Words near watched one's back in the dictionary

  1. watched folders
  2. watched grass grow
  3. watched it
  4. watched like a hawk
  5. watched one's ass
  6. watched one's back
  7. watched one's language
  8. watched one's mouth
  9. watched one's step
  10. watched one's tongue
  11. watched out

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: watched one's back (page history and authors); watch one's back (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:

Cite this entry: “watched one's back.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/watched_one%27s_back. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.