WATCH
What does "WATCH" mean?
To look at or observe attentively over a period of time.
Meanings
- To look attentively at someone or something, especially as it moves or changes. We watched the storm roll in over the bay.
- To keep guard over; to remain alert in order to protect or to catch. Could you watch my bag while I grab a coffee?
- A small timepiece worn on the wrist or carried in a pocket. He checked his watch and frowned at the delay.
- A period of guard duty, or the people keeping it, especially aboard a ship. The night watch reported calm seas.
Did you know?
- The wristwatch went mainstream because of World War I: pocket watches were useless when both hands were busy in the trenches, so soldiers strapped timepieces to their wrists, and the fashion stuck.
Word origin
From Old English 'wæccan' (to be awake, keep vigil), from the same Germanic root as 'wake'; the timepiece sense arose because early watches told the hours of the night watch.
Remember it
WATCH contains 'WAKE' in spirit - both come from the same Old English root for staying awake to keep vigil.
A little poem
Second hand sweeping -
I keep watch over the hours
the hours never keep.
haiku
Wordplay
- I asked the jeweler if my old watch was worth fixing. He gave it a long look and said it was just a matter of time.
What it teaches
To watch the clock and to keep watch are opposites: one counts time, the other guards what time would steal.
Quick facts
What does WATCH mean?
To look at or observe attentively over a period of time.
Is WATCH a valid word?
Yes — WATCH is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is WATCH?
WATCH has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does WATCH come from?
From Old English 'wæccan' (to be awake, keep vigil), from the same Germanic root as 'wake'; the timepiece sense arose because early watches told the hours of the night watch.
What can WATCH teach us?
To watch the clock and to keep watch are opposites: one counts time, the other guards what time would steal.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.