Watch Meaning
/ˈwɒt͡ʃ/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA portable or wearable timepiece.
nounThe act of guarding and observing someone or something.
Sentence Examples
There are 1000 movies that one must watch before dying.
Did you watch the game?
She kept looking anxiously at her watch.
CEFR Practice Quiz
To ensure the baby's safety, the nurse must ____ the monitor constantly.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I like to ____ the birds in the garden while I am having my breakfast earlier this morning today.
Word Origin & History
As a noun, from Middle English wacche, from Old English wæċċe. See below for verb form.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.[…]A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"shepherds keeping watch by night"
— 1667, John Milton, “Book XII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"All the long night their mournful watch they keep."
— 1717, Joseph Addison, Metamorphoses:
"I did stand my watch upon the hill."
— c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
"Might we but hear […]
Or whistle from the lodge, or village cock
Count the night watches to his feathery dames."
— 1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
To ensure the baby's safety, the nurse must ____ the monitor constantly.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I like to ____ the birds in the garden while I am having my breakfast earlier this morning today.