watchword
/ˈwɒt͡ʃwɜː(ɹ)d/
watchword noun: a word used as a motto, as expressive of a principle, belief, or rule of action; a rallying cry.
Noun
watchword (plural watchwords)
- A word used as a motto, as expressive of a principle, belief, or rule of action; a rallying cry.
- "How this perpetual gaiety," exclaimed Louis, "jars upon the ear! Good Heaven! is farewell to be said so gladly? I sometimes start when I think upon the hollowness of all that surrounds me. I often wish my eye had the power of searching the inmost depths of the bosoms whose watchword is my name."1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 321
- For-ward! be our watchword, Steps and voices joined; / Seek the things before us, Not a look behind.1871, “Forward! Be Our Watchword”, Henry Alford (lyrics), Henry Thomas Smart (music)
- A prearranged reply to the challenge of a sentry or a guard; a password or signal by which friends can be known from enemies.
- a Watchword sufficient for him that is wiſe1625, George Sandys, Sacrae heptades
- Synonyms:
- passphrase, password, underword
watchword meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
watchword in Tamil
- ஆளறி சொல், கோட்பாட்டுச் சொல்
watchword in Urdu
- watchword
- اصولی قول usōlī qaul
watchword in Malayalam
- കാവൽവചനം, പ്രത്യയവാക്ക്, അടയാളവാക്ക്
watchword in Kannada
- ಸಂಕೇತ ಶಬ್ದ, ಗುರುತು ನುಡಿ, ಸೂತ್ರವಾಕ್ಯ, ಧ್ಯೇಯವಾಕ್ಯ
Examples of watchword in a sentence
- Atrocities of the most vicious kind were justified by the watchwords: "This is war!" "Might is Right." "Necessity knows no law."1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress:
- If I could give you a single watchword for the coming months, that word is: work, work, and more work.1945 May, Harry S. Truman, Announcement of Germany's Surrender:
- It's a peel out the watchword / Just peel out the watchword1994, Tori Amos, “Cornflake Girl”, in Under the Pink:
- The Esk Valley route to Whitby was a classic example: a basic four trains a day service has persisted for decades, with economy the watchword.2019 October, James Abbott, “Esk Valley revival”, in Modern Railways, page 76:
Synonyms of watchword
Forms of watchword
| plural | watchwords |
|---|
Origin of watchword
From Middle English wacche word, wacchworde, morphologically as watch (“guard, sentinel, sentry”) + word.
Questions about watchword
- What does watchword mean?
- Watchword means a word used as a motto, as expressive of a principle, belief, or rule of action; a rallying cry.
- What is watchword in Tamil?
- Watchword in Tamil is ஆளறி சொல், கோட்பாட்டுச் சொல். See Watchword meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use watchword in a sentence?
- Atrocities of the most vicious kind were justified by the watchwords: "This is war!" "Might is Right." "Necessity knows no law."
- What part of speech is watchword?
- Watchword is a noun.
- How do you pronounce watchword?
- Watchword is pronounced /ˈwɒt͡ʃwɜː(ɹ)d/.
- What is the plural of watchword?
- The plural of watchword is watchwords.
Words near watchword in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: watchword (page history and authors); watchword (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); اصولی قول (Urdu) (page history and authors); watchword (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); watchword (Kannada Wiktionary) (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-watchword.ogg, en-au-watchword.ogg.
Cite this entry: “watchword.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/watchword. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.