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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.

One who observes, or pays attention to, anything; especially, one engaged in, or trained to habits of, close and exact observation; as, an astronomical observer. The observed of all observers. Shak. Careful observers may foretell the hour, By sure prognostic, when to dread a shower. Swift.

Giving particular attention; habitually attentive to what passes; as, an observing person; an observing mind. -- Ob*serv"ing*ly, adv.

To thrust one's self upon a company or upon attention; to intrude.

That which occupies or engages the time and attention; the principal business of one's life; vocation; employment; calling; trade. Absence of occupation is not rest. Cowper. Occupation bridge (Engin.), a bridge connecting the parts of an estate separated by a railroad, a canal, or an ordinary road.

Designating a time when one is not strictly attentive to business or affairs, or is absent from his post, and, hence, a time when affairs are not urgent; as, he took an off day for fishing: an off year in politics. "In the off season." Thackeray. Off side. (a) The right hand side in driving; the farther side. See Gee.…

Above in authority or station; -- implying government, direction, care, attention, guard, responsibility, etc.; -- opposed to Ant: under. Thou shalt be over my house. 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 wo…

without seeing it; to miss or omit in looking; hence, to refrain from bestowing notice or attention upon; to neglect; to pass over without censure or punishment; to excuse. The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. Acts xvii. 30 (Rev. Ver. ) They overlook truth in the judgments they pass. Atterbury. The pardonin…

Careless; negligent; inattentive; superfical; not thorough. [Archaic] Bp. Hall.

Careful in doing; diligent; faithful; attentive. "Painstaking men." Harris.

Originally, a marginal mark or note, set in the margin to call attention to something in the text, e. g., a change of subject; now, the character

A character consisting of two parallel vertical lines (thus, ) used in the text to direct attention to a similarly marked note in the margin or at the foot of a page. Limiting parallels. See under Limit, v. t. -- Parallel of altitude (Astron.), one of the small circles of the sphere, parallel to the horizon; an almuca…

Concerned with, or attentive to, details; minute; circumstantial; precise; as, a full and particular account of an accident; hence, nice; fastidious; as, a man particular in his dress.

To go by without noticing; to omit attention to; to take no note of; to disregard. Please you that I may pass This doing. Shak. I pass their warlike pomp, their proud array. Dryden.

To give or offer, without an implied obligation; as, to pay attention; to pay a visit. Not paying me a welcome. Shak. To pay off. (a) To make compensation to and discharge; as, to pay off the crew of a ship. (b) To allow (a thread, cord, etc.) to run off; to unwind. -- To pay one's duty, to render homage, as to a sove…

To attend; to be attentive. [R.] Shak.

ion is, at least sometimes, That Heaven will weigh man's virtues and his crimes With nice attention. Cowper.

That which arrests attention, or indicates qualities or character; a salient feature; a characteristic; a peculiarity; hence, a particular; an item; a detail; as, the good or bad points of a man, a horse, a book, a story, etc. He told him, point for point, in short and plain. Chaucer. In point of religion and in point…

being polite; refinement of manners; urbanity; courteous behavior; complaisance; obliging attentions.

To weigh in the mind; to view with deliberation; to examine carefully; to consider attentively. Ponder the path of thy feet. Prov. iv. 26.