- [countable] a type of small clock that you wear on your wrist, or (in the past) carried in your pocket
- She kept looking anxiously at her watch.
- He paced nervously, checking his watch.
- My watch is fast/slow.
- Sorry I'm late—my watch has stopped.
Extra ExamplesTopics Clothes and Fashiona1- Don't forget to set your watch to local time.
- Let's synchronize our watches.
- My watch is ten years old and it's still going.
- My watch loses a minute each day.
- My watch says three o'clock.
- Quartz watches don't need winding.
- We put our watches forward eight hours before landing in Tokyo.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- digital
- analogue/analog
- mechanical
- …
- check
- consult
- glance at
- …
- go
- work
- stop
- …
- face
- band
- strap
- …
- [singular, uncountable] the act of watching somebody/something carefully in case of possible danger or problems
- The police have mounted a watch outside the hotel.
- I'll keep watch while you go through his papers (= watch and warn you if somebody is coming).
- The government is keeping a close watch on how the situation develops.
Extra Examples- I kept a close watch on my bag as I sat on the train.
- She keeps watch over the inmates.
- The authorities maintained a careful watch over the establishment.
- They kept a vigilant watch for the enemy.
- Go in and see if you can find it in his study. I'll keep watch for you.
- Two soldiers were ordered to keep watch for enemy aircraft.
- prisoners on suicide watch (= being carefully watched as they might try to kill themselves)
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- careful
- close
- vigilant
- …
- keep
- stand
- put
- …
- committee
- tower
- list
- …
- on watch
- on the watch for
- keep watch over somebody/something
- stand watch over somebody/something
- [countable, uncountable] a fixed period of time, usually while other people are asleep, during which somebody watches for any danger so that they can warn others, for example on a ship; the person or people who do this
- on watch I go on watch in an hour.
- I'm on first watch.
Extra Examples- Some of the crew were sleeping, while others were on watch.
- That night they posted watches.
- The garrison commander had put an extra watch on the prisoners.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- careful
- close
- vigilant
- …
- keep
- stand
- put
- …
- committee
- tower
- list
- …
- on watch
- on the watch for
- keep watch over somebody/something
- stand watch over somebody/something
- [countable] (North American English) a notice or an announcement that warns the public that there may be severe weather conditions very soon
- We have tornado watches in effect for a lot of Florida.
- They're in charge of issuing the tornado watches.
Word OriginOld English wæcce ‘watchfulness’, wæccende ‘remaining awake’; related to the verb wake. The sense ‘small timepiece’ probably developed by way of a sense ‘alarm device attached to a clock’.
Idioms
See watch in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee watch in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbe on the watch (for somebody/something)
- to be looking carefully for somebody/something that you expect to see, especially in order to avoid possible danger
- Be on the watch for thieves.
keep a close eye/watch on somebody/something
- to watch somebody/something carefully
- Over the next few months we will keep a close watch on sales.
Check pronunciation:
watch