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To be on the watch respecting; to pay attention to; to notice with care; to see; to perceive; to discover; as, to observe an eclipse; to observe the color or fashion of a dress; to observe the movements of an army.

rd, prisoners, and police of the post or camp. -- Officer of the deck, or Officer of the watch (Naut.), the officer temporarily in charge on the deck of a vessel, esp. a war vessel.

With eyes widely open; watchful; vigilant. Shak.

rior officer to carry his orders, or to render other service. Orderlies were appointed to watch the palace. Macaulay.

A guard or small body of troops at a distance from the main body of an army, to watch for the approach of an enemy; hence, anything for defense placed at a distance from the thing to be defended.

The act of looking out; watch.

ouse. Gen. xli. 40. I will make thee rules over many things. Matt. xxv. 23. Dost thou not watch over my sin Job xiv. 16. His tender mercies are over all his works. Ps. cxlv. 9.

Hence: To supervise; to watch over; sometimes, to observe secretly; as, to overlook a gang of laborers; to overlook one who is writing a letter.

To superintend; to watch over; to direct; to look or see after; to overlook.

Watchful care; superintendence; general supervision.

One of the pieces or levers connected with the pendulum of a clock, or the balance of a watch, which receive the immediate impulse of the scape-wheel, or balance wheel. Brande & C.

A watchword given only to officers of guards; -- distinguished from countersign, which is given to all guards.

A word to be given before a person is allowed to pass; a watchword; a countersign. Macaulay.

One who patrols; a watchman; especially, a policeman who patrols a particular precinct of a town or city.

security for the payment of money borrowed; to put in pawn; to pledge; as, to pawn one's watch. And pawned the last remaining piece of plate. Dryden.

or; to bear the expense of; to be mulcted on account of. 'T was I paid for your sleeps; I watched your wakings. Beau. & Fl. -- To pay off. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.] (Naut.) To fall to leeward, as the head of a vessel under sail. -- To pay on. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.] To beat with vigor; to redouble blows. [Colloq.]…

in walking, and so ascertaining the distance passed over. It is usually in the form of a watch; an oscillating weight by the motion of the body causes the index to advance a certain distance at each step.

narrow space; to coop up, or shut in; to inclose. "Away with her, and pen her up." Shak. Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eve. Milton.

The stem and ring of a watch, by which it is suspended. [U.S.] Knight. Pendant post (Arch.), a part of the framing of an open timber roof; a post set close against the wall, and resting upon a corbel or other solid support, and supporting the ends of a collar beam or any part of the roof.

One placed on watch, or in ambush.