Forms: 1 wæcce, wæce, -æ, wecce, 2 wæcche, 3–5 wecche, 5 wecch, 3–6 weche, 5 wetche, 3–5 wacche, 4 wachche, 4–6 wache, 5–6 wach, (6 wash(e), 4–6 Sc. vach, 6 Sc. vatche, wyche, 5 waicche, waiche, waycche, 5–7 watche, (6 wash(e, wattch), 7 wauch, 6– watch. [OE. wæcce wk. fem., f. stem of wæccan WATCH v. Cf. WAKE sb.1]
I. Wakefulness, vigil.
† 1. The state of being awake; voluntary or involuntary going without sleep; wakefulness. Obs.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., I. 350. To slæpe, gate horn under heafod ʓelæd weccan [v.r. wæccan] he on slæpe ʓecyrreþ. Ibid., II. 152. Ʒif men sie micel wæce ʓetenge, popiʓ ʓegnid on ele smire [etc.].
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 4132. Long wacche on nightis, and no slepinge.
c. 1440. Capgrave, St. Kath., 125. My lord youre eem may not wedde yow neyther in wetche [v.r. wecch] ne in dreem.
1533. Elyot, Cast. Helthe (1539), 48. Sembably immoderate watch drieth to moch the body.
1602. Shaks., Ham., II. ii. 148. He … Fell into a Sadnesse, then into a Fast, Thence to a Watch, [etc.]. Ibid. (1611), Cymb., III. iv. 43. False to his Bed? What is it to be false? To lye in watch there, and to thinke on him?
1631. Widdowes, Nat. Philos., 52. There be certaine appointed courses for watch and sleepe, lest creatures languish with overmuch motion.
† b. Watch of nightingales: in the early lists of ‘proper terms,’ app. intended to designate wakefulness as the distinctive quality of the bird; by late writers misapprehended as the proper term for a flock or company of nightingales. Cf. WATCHING vbl. sb.
c. 1452. Egerton MS., 1995 (Hodgkin). Waycche of Nyghtynggales.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, f. vi. A wache of Nyghtingalis.
1801. Strutt, Sports & Past. (1810), I. ii. 33. A watch of nightingales.
[1847. Halliwell, Wache, a flock of birds.]
† 2. Watching as a devotional exercise or religious observance; an act or instance of this. Obs. except in watch-night (see 27).
971. Blickl. Hom., 37. Mid fæstenne, & mid halʓum wæccum, & mid ælmessum.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 89. Lieue saule, ic ðe bidde and warni ðat tu none hope ne haue upe ðine fasten, Ne upe ðine wæcche, ne uppe non oðre gode.
c. 1200. Ormin, 1451. Wiþþ fassting, & wiþþ bedesang, Wiþþ cnelinng, & wiþþ wecche.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 138. Vesten, wecchen & oðre swuche ase ich nemde nu beoð mine sacrefises.
c. 1275. Orison, 21, in O. E. Misc. (1872), 139. Wunderliche þurh wacche and fast Þi swete lychome þu teonedest.
1421. in 26 Pol. Poems, xviii. 113. Kepe ȝoure wacche and seruyce dewe, And rule of habyte clenely ȝeme.
c. 1450. Capgrave, Life St. Aug., 27. So for to make hem mor lith in her wecch, þis same bischop ded ordeyn swete songis and delectable.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 42. With the merytes & werkes of harde penaunce, abstynence, watche, prayer, turmentes and martyrdome.
† b. A wake or revel held on St. John the Baptist’s (Midsummer) Eve (23 June), sometimes renewed on St. Peter’s Eve (28 June). Obs.
1445. Cov. Leet Bk., 220. Pur le Ridyng on Corpus Christi day and for Watche on Midsomer even.
1511. in Songs, Carols, etc. (E.E.T.S.), App. 156. On Myd-somer nyght þe Kyng cam prevyly to the kyngis Hed in Chepe,… & so departid agayn alter þe washe. & on seynt Peters nyght the Kyng & þe Quene cam rydyng to the Kyngis Hed royally; & after þe washe, departid to þe Towr.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., 20 Hen. VIII. (1550), 172. By reason of this plague the watches whiche were wont to be kept yerely in London on saint Ihons euen at Mydsommer & saint Peters euen were … commaunded to be left for that yere.
1552–3. in Feuillerat, Revels Edw. VI. (1914), 92. vj hobby horses for mydsomer watch.
1592. Stow, Ann., 1004. 1548 … The watch … of long, time laid downe, was now againe vsed, both on the eeuen of S. Iohn, and or S. Peter, in as comely order as it had beene accustomed, which watch was greatly beautified by the number of more than 300. demilances and light horsmen [etc.].
c. A ‘wake’ over a dead person.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2467. Cristene folc … don for þe dede chirche-gong elmesse-gifte, and messe-song, And ðat is on ðe weches stede.
1908. Ch. Times, 13 March, 347/2. A watch was kept all night, the Men’s Guild making themselves responsible.
3. The action or a continued act of watching; a keeping awake and vigilant for the purpose of attending, guarding, observing, or the like.
c. 888. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxi. § 1. Hu micele wæccan & hu micle unrotnesse se hæfð þe ðone won willan hæfð on þisse worulde.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 96. So mot I nedes fro hire wende And of my wachche make an ende.
c. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 180. He com to þe chyrch and to þe scryne of Saynt Wenefryd, and was þer yn his prayers al a nyght. But on þe morow, what for wach, what for wery, he fylle on slepe.
1541. Paynell, Conspir. Catal., i. 1. He was an experte man of warre: he could suffer and endure labour, watche, colde, thyrste, and hunger, far beyond that any man wolde beleue.
1577. Grange, Golden Aphrod., Ep. Ded. A ij b. Diodorus the Stoike … thorow his continuall watch and excessiue studie, being blinde of long time.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. iii. 35. Care keepes his watch in euery old mans eye, And where Care lodges, sleepe will neuer lye.
1600. E. Blount, trans. Conestaggio, 317. They were so wearied with the watches of the last night.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, IX. 312. The Foe securely drench’d in Sleep and Wine, Neglect their Watch.
1704. Addison, trans. Ovid, Phaeton’s Sisters, 31. All the long night their mournful watch they keep, And all the day stand round the tomb and weep.
1788. Mme. D’Arblay, Diary, 25 Nov. These night watches, and this close attendance, disagree with them all.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, VI. 129. Wan was her cheek With hollow watch.
1859. H. Kingsley, G. Hamlyn, xxxix. Sometimes we would think of poor Mary Hawker, at her lonely watch up at the forest station.
1890. Stevenson, In South Seas, II. vi. (1900), 190. Others had wearied of the watch; and as the sun was setting, he found himself by the grave alone.
4. [trans. L. vigilia, Gr. φυλακή, Heb. ashmōreth.] Each of the (three, four, or five) periods into which the night was anciently divided. Now often in collective plural, the watches of the night, used rhetorically for ‘the night-time.’
The Hebrews divided the night into three watches, the Greeks usually into four (sometimes five), the Romans (followed by the Jews in New Testament times) into four.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 388. Drihten com to his leorning-cnihtum … on ðære feorðan wæccan. An wæcce hæfð þreo tida; feower wæccan ʓefyllað twelf tida; swa fela tida hæfð seo niht.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Luke xii. 38. Ʒif he cymð on þære æfteran wæccan, oððe on þære þriddan. [So Tindale and all later versions; Wyclif has wakynge.]
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 247 b. In iewry … the nyght was dyuyded into iiii partes whiche they called iiii watches. The fyrst was from the begynnyng of the nyght vnto ix of the clocke. The second from ix to xii. The thyrde from xii to iii and the fourth from iii to vj of the clocke.
1535. Coverdale, Exod. xiv. 24. Whan the mornynge watch came, the Lorde loked vpon the armies of the Egipcians.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., IV. v. 28. As hee whose Brow (with homely Biggen bound) Snores out the Watch of Night. Ibid. (1604), Oth., I. i. 124. At this odde Euen and dull watch o’ th’ night.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 119. The day was not diuided of the first Hebrewes … into houres, but was distinguished by Vigiliæ, or Watches, of which they had foure.
1706. Estcourt, Fair Example, IV. i. 51. Fan. Well, my dear, it begins to grow late, and it’s time I shou’d leave you. Mrs. Fan. It do’s indeed, Husband, I believe the first watch is expir’d.
1742. Fielding, J. Andrews, I. xvi. When the Company had retired the Evening before, the Thief was detained in a Room where the Constable, and one of the young Fellows who took him, were planted as his Guard. About the second Watch a general Complaint of Drowth was made.
1826. Scott, Jrnl., 21 Jan. The watches of the night pass wearily when disturbed by fruitless regrets.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., xci. 13. Come: not in watches of the night, But where the sunbeam broodeth warm.
1883. Miss Broughton, Belinda, I. viii. How can she hurry the pace? she asks herself desperately, in the watches of the night.
† 5. A vicious turning of night into day, ‘chambering.’ Obs.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1766. For nabbe ich nawt þeos niht i worldliche wecchen, ah habbe in heouenliche iwaket.
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 90. Hateful of herte he was to sobrenesse, Cherisshyng surfaytes wacche and gloteny.
II. Action of watching or observing.
6. The action or an act of watching or observing with continuous attention; a continued look-out, as of a sentinel or guard. Chiefly in phrases, † to make watch, to keep (a, the) watch, to set a watch.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, IX. 318. He … has the castell tan. Throu falt of vach, vith litill payn.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. IX. 17. Ac þe constable of þat custel þat kepeth al þe wacche, Is a wyse kniȝte with-al, sire Inwitte he hatte.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 520/1. Wetche, for enmees, excubie.
c. 1450. Merlin, iv. 76. Therfore a-ray youre oste and your barons, and comaunde hem to make gode wacche to diffende hem-self. Ibid., xx. 318. And the[i] drinke and ete ech day and trouble so theire braynes that thei sette litill wacche in theire hoste.
1486. C’tess Oxford, in Paston Lett., III. 328. I … streitly chargie you that ye in all goodly haste endevore your self that suche wetche or other meanes be used and hadde in the poorts, and creks, and othre places … to the letting of his seid purpose.
1538. Elyot, Dict., Excubiæ,… watche, as well by daye as by nyghte.
1549. Chron. Grey Friars (Camden), 64. That day begane agayne the washe at every gatt in London of the comeneres in harnes with weppyns.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 120. They kepe so good watche, that nothing can escape them.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 650. The Magistrates and gouernours caused great watches to be kept, and good order to be obserued.
1582. N. Lichefield, trans. Castanheda’s Conq. E. Ind., I. vii. 18. The Generall … determined to enter into the Harbour of Monsambicke,… appointing also there shoulde be great watch, for preuention of the Moores.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., V. iii. 54. Rich. Good Norfolke, hye thee to thy charge, Vse carefull Watch, chuse trusty Centinels.
1625. Bacon, Ess., Love (Arb.), 445. Loue can finde entrance, not only into an open Heart; but also into a Heart well fortified; if watch be not well kept.
1670. Ray, Prov., 28. Good watch prevents misfortune.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, an. 1625. I well remember the strict watches and examinations upon the ways as we passed.
1798. Sophia Lee, Canterb. T., Young Lady’s T., II. 238. [He] had a strict watch kept on the wanderings of the melancholy Lenox.
1827. Keble, Chr. Yr., Advent Sunday, iv. Even so, heart-searching Lord,… Thou keepest silent watch from thy triumphal throne.
1835. G. P. R. James, Gipsy, ii. ‘Keep a good watch, my boys,’ he said,… ‘There is danger stirring abroad.’
1842. Dickens, Amer. Notes, xvi. Many an eager eye glanced up to where the Look-out on the mast kept watch for Holyhead.
1867. Swinburne, Ess. & Stud. (1875), 159. The look in it as of bright bewildered eyes with tears not theirs and alien wonder in the watch of them.
1886. C. Scholl, Phraseol. Dict., II. 834. I kept a watch on that man all the time he was on the premises.
1901. Munsey’s Mag., XXIV. 515/2. He kept watch of you even after the money was stolen.
transf. 1804. Campbell, Soldier’s Dream, 2. The night-cloud bad lowered, And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky.
b. The duty, post or office of watchman or sentinel. Obs. exc. in Bible phrase to stand upon one’s watch.
1535. Coverdale, Neh. vii. 3. Whyle they are yet stondinge in the watch, the dores shall be shut and barred. And there were certayne citesyns of Ierusalem appoynted to be watchmen, euery one in his watch.
1550. S’hampton Crt. Leet Rec. (1905), I. I. 15. Wherfore yt ys comaunded that every man paye his watches for the welthe and Savegard of the towne as [etc.].
1581. A. Hall, Iliad, VII. 132. They to their supper do departe, some to the watch do hye, And some their tyred limmes to reste on couches downe do lye.
1604. Shaks., Oth., II. iii. 12. Welcome Iago; we must to the Watch. Ibid., V. ii. 326. There is besides, in Rodorigo’s Letter, How he vpbraides Iago, that he made him Braue me vpon the Watch. Ibid. (1605), Macb., V. v. 33. As I did stand my watch vpon the Hill I look’d toward Byrnane, and anon me thought The Wood began to moue.
1611. Bible, Hab. ii. 1. I will stand vpon my watch, and set mee vpon the towre, and will watch to see what he will say vnto me.
c. Surveillance over a person, either for his protection or with hostile intent.
1611. Bible, Job vii. 12. Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch ouer me?
1776. Trial of Nundocomar, 23/2. I do not put a watch over him: how can I tell who has seen him.
1782. Miss Burney, Cecilia, III. viii. We shall be able to keep a better watch over her.
1827. Scott, Highl. Widow, v. Impatient of the watch which was placed over her.
1885. Bible (R. V.), 1 Sam. xxvi. 15. Wherefore then hast thou not kept watch over thy lord the king?
d. On, upon (the) watch: on the look out, exercising vigilance. Const. for, to with inf.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, I. (Globe), 203. I resolv’d to put my self upon the Watch to see them when they came to Shore.
1775. A. Burnaby, Trav. N. Amer., 28, note. The bald-eagle, which is generally upon the watch, instantly pursues [the fishing-hawk].
1797. Jane Austen, Sense & Sensib., xxvi. Wherever they went she was evidently always on the watch.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xxv. The … door … opened when he knocked—for Rob was on the watch.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ii. I. 182. He must be always on the watch for the indications of a coming reaction.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 237. We should not have been on the watch to keep one another from doing wrong.
† c. Watchfulness, vigilance. Obs.
14[?]. Lydg., Lyke thyn Audience, 28, in Pol. Rel. & Love Poems (1903), 48. [Hunt game] with bowe and arow in honde Mawgre the wache of fasters and parkerris.
1450–1530. Myrr. our Ladye, II. 241. Thoughe she ordeyned wyth all watche & dylygence her thoughtes wordes & dedes to the worshyp of god yet she [etc.].
1465. Paston Lett., II. 214. Maketh gode wache be tyme.
personified. c. 1412. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 76. Agayn my luste, Wach profrid his seruise, And I admittid hym in heuy wyse.
7. Watch and ward: the action of ‘watching and warding’ (see WATCH v. 6 b, 10, WATCHING vbl. sb. 1 c); the performance of the duty of a watchman or sentinel, esp. as a feudal obligation. Now only (as often in earlier times) a rhetorical and more emphatic synonym of watch in sense 6; also fig.
It has often been supposed that in this phrase watch refers to service by night and ward to service by day, but this seems to be merely an unsupported inference from the etymology.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 202. Thei … maken thanne warde and wacche, Wher thei the profit mihten cacche.
c. 1425. in Black Bk. Admir. (Rolls), I. 284. That every man be obeissant to his capitene to kepe his wacche and warde.
1471. Caxton, Recuyell (Sommer), 94. He doth yow to wete that ye do kepe yow wyth good wacche and warde.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. ccccxxxiii. 308. Thus they stode styll kepynge watche and warde, redy at their defence.
1576. Gascoigne, Philomene (Arb.), 87. But I which spend, the darke and dreadful night, In watch and ward, when those birds take their rest, Forpine my selfe.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., I. iii. 9. Still, when she slept, he kept both watch and ward.
1630. R. Johnson’s Kingd. & Commw., 137. As for their Watch and Ward, it goes by course, as in the City of Embden, and divers other in those low countries.
1687. Declar. Dubl., 8 Dec. in Lond. Gaz., No. 2222/3. We do hereby further Require … that the Laws of this Realm concerning the keeping of Watch and Ward, and for raising the Hue-and-Cry be duly observed.
1780. Burke, Sp. Bristol, 60. But let government … comprehend the whole in its justice, and restrain the suspicious by its vigilance; let it keep watch and ward;… and then it will be as safe as ever God and nature intended it should be.
1817. Coleridge, Biog. Lit., I. x. 191. At least let us not be lulled into such a notion of our entire security, as not to keep watch and ward, even on our best feelings.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xi. Mrs. Pipchin had kept watch and ward over little Paul and his sister for nearly twelve months. Ibid. (1859), T. Two Cities, II. iii. The jury … were not agreed…. My Lord … signified his pleasure that they should retire under watch and ward, and retired himself.
1868. Local Act 31 & 32 Vict., c. lix. Preamble, Whereas the Power of Watch and Ward within the University and City of Oxford has heretofore been customarily exercised during the Night by the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford, and during the Day by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of the City of Oxford.
1873. Black, Pr. Thule, xvii. 267. The necessity of keeping some watch and ward over his tongue.
1906. S. J. Reid, Life & Lett Ld. Durham, xviii. II. 32. Along the southern line of the Russian frontiers it was necessary to keep military watch and ward against the predatory incursions of Tartar tribes.
† b. in plural. Obs. rare.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., IX. xxv. (1495), 362. By watches and wardes of knyghtes the nighte is departed in foure, bi foure partes and orders of watches.
1511. Guylforde’s Pilgr. (Camden), 10. Arragonse … is the strongest towne of walles, towres, bulwerkes, watches, and wardes that euer I sawe in all my lyfe.
† c. = 8 b. Obs.
1566. S’hampton Crt. Leet Rec. (1905), I. I. 41. Item that non put eny catall Into the comyn who is not a howseholder and paye watche and warde vpon payne to furfet for evere tyme so offendinge 2/-.
† 8. The action of keeping guard and maintaining order in the streets, esp. during the night, performed by a picked body of the community. Phrase, to keep watch. Obs.
1442. Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844), I. 8. And ony waicheman that slepis in the nyght, or removis fra the waiche quhile the son rise, sal pay vi d. to the seriandes.
1532. Cov. Leet Bk., 712. All Constables within the Citie & suburbes of the same shal-be discharged fromehensforth of the Comen watche in this Citie & also of all paymentes & charges of the same.
1534. in W. H. Turner, Select. Rec. Oxford, 128. In the night wach to be kept by the Univ. no freman … should be vexed … by the wach.
1549. Chron. Grey Friars (Camden), 65. That nyght was the comyneres of London was dyscharged of ther waching at alle the gattes of London in harnes, and to wache no more but the comyne wache as a nyttes in every warde as it hath bene acostomyd before.
1878. J. Davidson, Inverurie, iv. 138. A watch to be kept by sixteen persons every night, and two sentinels in every steeple by day.
† b. A payment or tax for the upkeep of watchmen. Obs.
1430. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 294. No Maire … shal pardon and forgyve amercements of brede, ale, wacche and affrayes.
1467. in Eng. Gilds (1870), 390. That then he pay taske, tallage, knyghtenspence, wacches, and other charges wtyn the warde that he comyth furst in to the seid cite by.
1506. Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W.), IV. ix. 192. To paye taxes watches subsydes, or passages agayne theyr wyll.
† 9. A lying in wait, an ambush; hence an insidious design or plot. Phrases, to lay watch, to place an ambush, to lie at, in, watch (for). Obs.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 5585. Bot the ffreikes were ferd of hor fre shippes, ffor to caire by the coste, & knew not the waches.
1432–50. trans. Higden (Rolls), I. 195. Helle … fleenge the wacches of here steppe moder [L. fugiens insidias novercales].
1483. Caxton, Golden Leg., 430/2. Kepyng hym self ryght curyously fro the prychyng sawtes and watche of the world.
1533. Bellenden, Livy, V. (S.T.S.), II. 207. Þai … began to drede sum hid watche and tressoun [L. insidias vereri].
1535. Coverdale, 1 Macc. xi. 68. And beholde, the hoostes of the Heithen met them in the felde, & layed watch for them in the mountaynes.
1545. in Leadam, Court Requests (Selden Soc.), 183. Defendauntes … leyd at divers tymes watch to take the corne off the said complaynaunt.
1548. Cranmer, Catech., 160 b. For if we shuld not much forbeare and forgyue one another,… we shoulde neuer haue measure nor ende of chiding, scoldynge, laying in watche one of another [etc.].
1549. Compl. Scot., xi. 87. Thai lay at the vatch [printed vacht], lyik the ald subtil doggis.
1555. Instit. Gentl., E vij. Manius … was … abhorred of hys own soldiers, euen so muche as they tooke hym in a watche, and set hym vpon an Asse backe hys fete bounde vnder the bely of the Asse [etc.].
1653. Walton, Angler, iii. 91. He [the trout] gets him into swifter and swifter streams, and there lies at the watch for any flie or Minow that comes neer to him.
10. One who watches; a look-out man; † a spy.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, VI. 44. Bot he, that had his vachis ay On ilk syde, of thar cummyng, Lang or thai com, had vittering. Ibid., XIX. 442. Bot the lord dowglas, that ay-quhar Set out wachis heir and thar [Gat] wit of thair enbuschement.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 276. The King buskit him sone, with scant of Squyary Wachis and Wardroparis all war away.
1483. Caxton, G. de la Tour, cxxiii. lv. By the false watches & bacbyters whiche ben neuer cessyng to talke of som euylle rather than of somme good.
1820. W. Irving, Sketch Bk., I. ii. 16. Suddenly the watch gave the alarm of ‘a sail ahead!’
b. Cricket. A fieldsman; also, a fielding position or station. (Winchester College.)
1836. New Sporting Mag., Oct., 360. The fielding of the ‘Wykehamist watches’ was very different from years gone by.
1843. [F. Gale], Pract. Hints Cricket, Frontisp. The watches are placed more behind the wicket, since the introduction of Round Bowling, than they were formerly.
1871. F. Gale, Echoes fr. Old Cricket Fields, 27. What I call an all-round player is a man who will go to any watch he is told, long or short, except wicket-keeper.
11. One who watches, or those who watch, for purposes of guarding and protecting life and property, and the like; esp. before the introduction of the new Police, a watchman or body of watchmen, who patrolled and guarded the streets of a town, proclaimed the hour, etc.
1539. Cov. Leet Bk., 738. That fromehensfurthe the seriauntes that shall warne the comen watche of this Citie shall furst begyn to warne the said watche at seynt Margettes Chappell.
1571. Rec. Burgh Lanark (1893), 63. The cunsall ordanis the fouir balleis to deill the toun in fouir, and ilke ane of thame nychtly rasave the wache, and put nychtly sufecent wyches to the port.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., II. iv. 536. Hostesse. The Sherife and all the Watch are at the doore: they are come to search the House, shall I let them in? Ibid. (1599), Much Ado, III. v. 49. Dog. One word sir, our watch sir haue indeede comprehended two aspitious persons.
1607. T. D. & G. Wilkins, Jests, 10. A yong man, being taken by a watch in the day time, for an iale fellow, was by a Constable brought before one of the Sheriffes of London, [etc.].
1670–1. Marvell, Corr., Wks. (Grosart), II. 376. On Munday morning at two a’clock, some persons reported to be of great quality,… set upon the watch and killd a poore beadle.
1681. Otway, Soldier’s Fort., V. (1687), 61. Enter Constable and Watch. Const. … I and my Watch going my morning Rounds, and finding your door open, made bold to enter to see there were no danger.
1703. Lond. Gaz., No. 3901/2. A Watch which was posted near that Place … came to his Assistance.
1751. F. Coventry, Pompey the Little, I. xxiii. 114. Gentlemen, answered the Watch, we are no Rascals, but Servants of His Majesty King George.
1812. Murphy, Delany’s Feast, 12. Hullo! what’s all this noise about? To the watch-house you must go, sir. Phelim struck the watch across the nose, And cried out no, no, no, sir.
1838. Bentley’s Misc., III. 51. From such neighbours the Cheap could not escape. The watch was generally scanty and always idle, and in the depth of winter the streets were without lights, save [etc.].
1841. Dickens, Barn. Rudge, xvi. Then there was the watch with staff and lanthorn, crying the hour, and the kind of weather.
1845. D. Jerrold, St. Giles, i. The woman, with a piercing shriek, called the watch; but the watch … answered not.
12. A sentinel; also, the body of soldiers constituting the guard of a camp, town, gate of a town, etc. ? Obs. exc. Hist.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 1205. Bot er þay at-wappe ne moȝt þe wach wyth-oute, Hiȝe skelt was þe askry þe skewes anvnder.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, IX. 375. Thai herd no vachis spek no cry. Ibid., XVII. 481. Thai set gud wachis to thar wall.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 5185. Þan was þar non of al þe wacche þat ys herte ne by-gan to cacche.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 5215. Sone þe wacchis on þe wallis þam wiȝtly ascryes, Qua þai ware & of quethen & quat was þar errande.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., IV. lv. 1177 (Wemyss). And that ȝit Brynnyus wonnyng had Had nocht the guss sic craking maid That walknyt the wache sodanely.
c. 1500. Three Kings’ Sons, 123. The ladies and gentilwomen … were not wele assured when they herd the belle of the wacche, for the comyng of the Turke.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xlii. 33. Langour wes weche vpoun the wall, That nevir sleipit bot evir wouke.
1539. Bible (Cranmer), Matt. xxvii. 65. Pylate sayde vnto them: Ye haue the watch [Gr. ἕχετε κουστωδίαν]; go your waye, make it as sure as ye can.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, II. i. 19. It is also his [the Sergeant’s] office to set & remoue the watches.
1611. Bible, Matt. xxviii. 11. Behold, some of the watch came into the citie, and shewed vnto the chiefe Priests all the things that were done.
a. 1670. Spalding, Troub. Chas. I. (Bannatyne Club), II. 321. Sir Johne Hurry … gois throw the marques of Montrois watches, saying, he wes the lord Gordoun’s man.
c. 1672. Verney Mem. (1907), II. 345. They told me they were the watch sent to stop all Passengers.
1825. Scott, Betrothed, xx. ‘Guarine,’ he added, addressing his squire, ‘let the watch be posted, and do thou remain within the tent.’
1844. Talfourd, Athen. Captive, III. iii. The watch presently will be removed.
13. In the early 18th c., the designation of certain companies of irregular troops in the Highlands. Black Watch, a name given (from the dark-colored tartan worn by them) to some of these companies raised c. 1729–30, and afterwards, 1739–40, embodied as the 42nd Regiment, which still retains the name.
1739. Lovat, in W. Fraser, Chiefs of Grant (1883), II. 380. My dear Frank … is not to stay any time in what you call the Black Watch. I think it is a right name to us, for we are represented very black to our Generall.
1822. D. Stewart, Sk. Highlanders, I. 223. This corps, which has been so well known for nearly eighty years under the appellation of the 42nd Highland Regiment … was originally known by the name of the Reicudan Du, or Black Watch. This was an appellation given to the Independent Companies of which the regiment was formed. It arose from the colour of their dress.
1900. Ld. Roberts, Dispatch, in Daily News, 10 May, 4/7. The Black Watch distinguished themselves, and were very skilfully led.
1913. N. Munro, New Road, iii. (1914), 35. The Highland Watches were considered in some quarters dubious servants of the King.
14. A hill serving as a look-out station. Sc. (? Obs. exc. in local names.)
17[?]. Pennecuik, Wks. (1815), 50 (E. D. D.). Hills are variously named, according to their magnitude; as … Tor, Watch, Rig.
1806. Forsyth, Beauties Scot., III. 114. There are hills in the same parish, called watches, where persons sat in order to give notice on the first approach of an enemy.
† 15. Something to catch the eye, a bait to catch the attention of a hawk. Obs.
c. 1450. Bk. Hawking, in Rel. Ant., I. 293. And thou wolt take a goshawke, let his wach be a colvour; and yf he falle not there to, put a rabbett.
† 16. A signal. Obs.
1578. H. Wotton, Courtlie Controv., 247. The Englishe lordes hauing giuen the princesse Virginia a watch to linger behinde and step aside [orig. ayans par vn signal fait escarter de la compagnie la Princesse V.].
III. Nautical uses.
17. [Developed from sense 4.] That period of time for which each of the divisions of a ship’s company (called ‘watches’: see 18) alternately remains on deck; usually four hours, with the exception of the dog-watches (see DOG-WATCH). (One’s) watch below, off, the time one is off duty. To be off the watch: to be off duty.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., I. ii. 2. We about the first watch sayled straight towards the port of Carry.
a. 1624. in Capt. J. Smith, Hist. Virginia, I. Wks. I. 340. When we had run 30. leagues we had 40. fadom, then 70. then 100. After 2. or 3. watches more we were in 24. fadoms.
1634. Brereton, Trav. (Chetham Soc.), 4. As the master of the ship conceived we ran seven leagues in a watch, in four hours.
1697. Lond. Gaz., No. 3317/4. In a Watch and a half … they gained so much of us, that we saw no probability of coming up with them.
1781. Cowper, Retirem., 434. He that on the mainmast head While morning kindles with a windy red, Begins a long look-out for distant land, Nor quits, till ev’ning watch, his giddy stand.
1848. W. A. Ross, Yacht Voy. Norway, etc., II. 256. The sailors who were below and off the watch, rose as we entered.
1850. H. Melville, White Jacket, I. xxi. 128. At eight o’clock in the morning your watch-below comes round, and you are not liable to duty until noon.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Watch,… the word is also applied to the time during which the watch remains on deck, usually four hours, with the exception of the dog-watches.
1898. Kipling, Fleet in Being, i. 4. I counted seven speeds in one watch, ranging from eight knots to seventeen.
1914. Guardian, 28 Aug., 6/1. The master was having his watch off, and I was lying down amidships.
b. A sailor’s turn or period of duty.
1725. De Foe, Voy. round World (1840), 44. They were a part of the men whose watch it was.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Loom & Lugger, I. iii. 26. He stood as fair a chance as a brighter man … of sustaining his six hours’ watch to the satisfaction of his officer.
transf. 1908. Daily Chron., 10 April, 1/5. This afternoon a batch of telegraphists due on duty refused to attend. The batch then on duty declared that they would go out on strike when their watch ended.
18. That part, usually one half, of the officers and crew, who together attend to the working of a vessel during a ‘watch’ (see 17). The usual two divisions, port († larboard) and starboard watches, are sometimes again divided into two, making four in all.
1626. Capt. J. Smith, Accid. Yng. Seamen, 790. The Corporall is to see to the setting and releeuing the watch. Ibid. (1627), Sea Gram., xiii. 61. Watch be vigilant to keepe your berth to windward.
1628. Digby, Voy. Mediterr. (Camden), 14. It was all that both the watches could do together to tacke about the sailes.
1699. T. Allison, Voy. Archangel, 103. We set our Sprit-Sail too, but all the Watch, which were ten Men, were two hours in getting it loose.
1743. Bulkeley & Cummins, Voy. S. Seas, 8. I was Officer of the Watch (tho’ I was Gunner of the Ship, I had the Charge of a Watch during the whole Voyage).
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), s.v., To set the Watch, is to appoint one division of the crew to enter upon the duty of the watch; as at eight o’clock in the evening. Hence it is equivalent to mounting the guard in the army.
1820. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., II. 235. Each watch consists of two boats’ crews.
1836. Marryat, Midsh. Easy, xxvi. The watch was called as soon as the sails were trimmed.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, xiv. 33. Instead of having a watch on deck and a watch below, as at sea, all hands are at work together.
1913. M. Roberts, Salt of Sea, vii. 181. ‘Any man would scorn to be Tyser’s sister’s son,’ said the starboard watch. Ibid. ‘The grub’s horrid,’ said both watches.
b. Watch and watch, the arrangement by which the two halves of a ship’s crew take duty alternately every four hours.
1780. Mirror, No. 97. ‘Business,’ cried the Captain, ‘is not oratory business? and why cannot they set to it watch and watch, as we do at sea?’
1813. Southey, Nelson, I. 22. He was stationed in the foretop at watch and watch.
1829. Marryat, F. Mildmay, xii. They were either mast-headed, or put watch and watch.
1850. H. Melville, White Jacket, I. xxi. 128. In a man-of-war at sea, the sailors have watch and watch; that is, through every twenty-four hours, they are on and off duty every four hours.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Watch and Watch, the arrangement of the crew in two watches.
transf. 1889. ‘Mark Twain,’ Yankee at Crt. Arthur, xl. Well, he stood watch-and-watch with me, right straight through, for three days and nights, till the child was out of danger.
IV. A timepiece.
† 19. An alarm-clock, or an alarum attached to a clock. Obs.
The sense in the first example is doubtful, as the Latin rendering is omitted; but on etymological grounds it seems likely that the sense ‘alarum’ is the oldest of the senses of this branch. With the form wecche in quot. 1440 cf. wecche, WETCH v. (trans.) to awaken.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 520/1. Wecche, of a clokke.
1542. in Archæol. Jrnl., XVIII. 142. Item oone Clocke…. Item oone Larum or Watch of iron, the case being likewise iron gilt with two plumettes of led.
20. † a. A dial or clock-face; the circle of figures on a dial. Obs.
1588. Greene, Perimedes, G 2 b. Restlesse the clocke that chimes hir fast a sleepe, Disquiet thoughts the minits of her watch.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., V. v. 52. For now hath Time made me his numbring clocke; My Thoughts, are minutes; and with Sighes they iarre, Their watches on vnto mine eyes, the outward Watch, Whereto my finger, like a Dialls point, Is pointing still, in cleansing them from teares.
1672. in Lostwithiel Rec. (Hist. MSS. Comm., Var. Collect., 1901), I. 335. For mending the clock there, and for making a watch or dyall uppon the tower of the said Borough.
b. The going-part of a clock. ? Obs.
1696. W. Derham, Artif. Clock-m., i. 3. The parts of a Movement, which I shall consider, are the Watch, and Clock. The Watch-part of a Movement is that which serveth to the measuring the hours. In which the first thing I shall consider is the Ballance.
1816. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, I. 376. The profile of the watch or going part of a clock is shewn by fig. 1, pl. VI.
21. A small time-piece with a spring-driven movement, and of a size to be carried in the pocket.
The occasional occurrence of the term pocket-watch (see quot. 1705 below) suggests that the word was sometimes applied to spring-driven clocks of larger size. From the beginning of the 17th c. ‘watches’ (from the context clearly pocket watches) are often spoken of as striking.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., III. i. 194. A woman that is like a Germane Cloake, Still a repairing: euer out of frame, And neuer going a right, being a Watch: But being watcht, that it may still goe right.
1590. R. Harvey, Plain Perc., 24. Surrender vp thy watch though it were gold.
1592. Greene, Conny catching, III. E 2 b. He reported his freend had lost a watch of golde: shewing how closely his freende wore it in his bosome.
1610. Shaks., Temp., II. i. 12. Looke, hee’s winding up the watch of his wit, By and by it will strike.
1625. B. Jonson, Staple of N., I. (He drawes foorth his watch, and sets it on the table.) ’t strikes! One, two, Three, foure, fiue, six. Inough, inough, deare watch.
c. 1633. in Verney Mem. (1907), I. 147. The gold watch sett with Turkies.
1651. Jer. Taylor, Holy Dying, i. § 3 (1676), 22. While he told the sands of his hour-glass, or the throbs and little beatings of his Watch.
1652. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 38. A verie prettie vatche of an agat, with ane case of silver.
c. 1657. in Verney Mem. (1907), II. 135. A plain sillvor woch…. I have it merely to know how the time goes away.
1662. J. Davies, trans. Olearius’ Voy. Ambass., 270. A gilt brass Candlestick, that had thirty branches, having a striking Watch within the Body of it.
1662. S. P., Acc. Latitude-men, 16. There are also imperfect Clocks called Watches that do not strike, but onely have a Dyall with a hand turning round.
1688. R. Stapley, Diary, in Sussex Archæol. Collect., II. 113. July 12th, bought … a silver-cased watch, wch cost me 3 li.… This watch shewes ye hour of ye day, ye day of ye month, ye months of ye year, ye age of ye moon, and ye ebbing and flowing of ye water; and will goe 30 hours with once winding up.
1705. Hickeringill, Priest-cr., IV. (1721), 210. Pocket your Watch, and Watch your Pockets.
1705. W. Derham, in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden), 317. Whether the vacuum affected the going of a pocket-watch.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Watch,… a Pocket-clock for the measuring of Time.
1751. F. Coventry, Pompey the Little, I. iv. 37. Lady Tempest, looking at her Watch, declared it was time to be going.
1784. Johnson, Lett. to Sastres, 21 Aug. Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.
1837. Hebert, Engin. & Mech. Encycl., I. 683. The essential difference between clocks and watches consists in the nature of the regulator employed; which in clocks is the pendulum, and in watches the balance wheel.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, xlvi. The doctor … drew out his watch, and felt her pulse.
1879. Thomson & Tait, Nat. Phil., I. I. § 414. A Clock is primarily an instrument which, by means of a train of wheels, records the number of vibrations executed by a pendulum; a Chronometer or Watch performs the same duty for the oscillations of a flat spiral spring.
b. Applied to a pocket time-piece regulated otherwise than by a balance-wheel and hair-spring.
1666. in Birch, Hist. Royal Soc. (1756), II. 83. April 18. Mr. Hooke produced a new kind of watch, the motion of which was regulated by a load-stone, the balance of it being a rod of steel.
1667. Sprat, Hist. Royal Soc., 247. Several new kinds of Pendulum Watches for the Pocket, wherein the motion is regulated, by Springs, or Weights, or Loadstones, or Flies moving very exactly regular.
1696. W. Derham, Artif. Clock-m., viii. 98. Of the Invention of those Pocket-Watches, commonly called Pendulum Watches.
c. A chronometer as used on board ship.
1778. R. Waddington, Sea Officer’s Comp., 7. Suppose the alt. of the sun taken at 8 h. 12′ A.M. by the watch.
1794. J. H. Moore, Pract. Navig. (ed. 10), 216. Suppose a ship at sea in lat. 47° 34′ N. by account, at 9H. 55M. 30S. by watch.
1816. Tuckey, Narr. Exped. R. Zaire, ii. (1818), 51. Our chronometers gave the longitude of the north end of Prince’s island 7°…. The same watch makes the N. W. point of St. Thomas in 6° 31′, [etc.].
d. nonce-use. A mechanism with rotating hands or pointers that move at any fixed ratio of speed.
1882. Minchin, Unipl. Kinemat., 95. AB and AC may then be simply two hands of a ‘Watch’ whose mechanism is at A, such that the angle turned through by the hand AC is always three times the angle turned through by the hand.
22. A trial-piece of glass, pottery, copper, etc., put in a furnace and taken out again, to enable the workman to judge of the degree of heating and the condition of the material operated on.
[App. a mistranslation of F. montre, in this application used in the sense of show-piece (from montrer to show), but commonly meaning a watch (timepiece).]
1606. Peacham, Art of Drawing, 69. Lay with every bed of your wrought and drawn glass one of the said pieces, which are called watches.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 330. A small proof of copper, of the form of a watch-case, and therefore called montre, is taken out from time to time. Ibid., 1016. Pyrometric balls of red clay … are employed in the English potteries to ascertain the temperature of the glaze kilns…. The glazer provides himself at each round with a stock of these ball watches.
23. U.S. (See quot.)
1891. Century Dict., Watch 9. pl. A name of the trumpet-leaf, Sarracenia flava, probably alluding to the resemblance of the flowers to watches.
† V. 24. Cant. His, her, my watch: = Himself, herself, myself. Obs.
c. 1530. Copland, Hye Way Spyttel Hous, in Hazl., E. P. P., IV. 69. The patryng coue in the darkman cace Docked the dell for a coper meke, His watch shall feng a prounces nobchete.
1567. Harman, Caveat (1869), 61. Thys harlot … had an vpright man or two alwayes attendinge on her watche (whyche is on her parson). Ibid., 86. That is beneshyp to our watche.
1612. Dekker, O per se O, O 1 b. I met a Dell, I viewde her well, she was benship to my watch.
VI. 25. dial. = WAKE sb.2 6.
1892. Pictorial World, 23 April, 733/2. They are feeding in one of the little pieces of open water—‘watches’ they are called—where the springs are strong, and the fowl keep the water moving.
VII. attrib. and Comb.
26. simple attrib. (sense 21), as watch-back, -barrel (BARREL 5 b), bow (sb.1 11 a), cock (sb.1 16), -dial (sb.1 4), -face, -holder, -key (also attrib.), -movement (3 b), pendant (sb. 11), pendulum-wire, pillar (sb. 8).
1894. A. H. Church, J. Wedgwood, x. 76. *Watch-backs,… for which Wedgwood employed with success his beautiful jasper paste.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, *Watch-barrel.
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 284. *Watch Bow, the round ring of a watch case to which the guard is attached. Ibid. (1899), Old Clocks & Watches, 346. *Watch Cocks. The first of the cocks or brackets used to support one end of the balance staff were probably quite plain.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., s.v., *Watch-dials are usually made of thin sheet copper [etc.].
1899. F. J. Britten, Old Clocks & Watches, 120. Decoration in enamel is sometimes to be found on watch dials … produced during the early part of the seventeenth century.
1893. Scribner’s Mag., June, 725/1. He felt for his matches and struck one to look at his *watch-face.
1915. Kipling, Diversity of Creatures (1917), 410. Your watch also [is] in the coralline *watch-holder.
1773. Pennsylv. Gaz., 16 June, Suppl. 2/2. [Advt.] Steel and brass *watch keys.
1840. Hood, Up Rhine, 110. A … watch-key in the shape of a pistol.
1723. Lond. Gaz., No. 6189/4. *Watch Key-maker.
1795. J. Aikin, Manchester, 311. They make *watch-movements.
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 284. Watch Movement, the plates with the wheels and pinions composing the train. Ibid., 285. *Watch Pendant, the little neck of metal connecting the bow to the band of a watch case.
1849. Noad, Electricity (ed. 3), 65. The finest flattened steel, sold at the watchmakers’ tool shops, under the name of *watch pendulum-wire.
1899. F. J. Britten, Old Clocks & Watches, 348. *Watch Pillars … are now universally made of a plain cylindrical form.
27. Special comb.: watch-alarm (see quot.); watch-ball, a ball of clay used to test the temperature of a glaze kiln (see sense 22 above); † watch-birth nonce-wd., ? a literary work brought to birth by watching; watch-boat, a boat on patrol duty; watch bracelet, a bracelet fitted with a small watch; watch-candle, a candle used for night-watching, a watching candle; watch cap (see quot.); watch-care U.S., watchful care; watch-chain, a metal chain used as a watch-guard; watch-cloak, -coat, a thick, heavy cloak or coat worn by seamen, soldiers or watchmen when on duty in bad weather; † watch-cobbler, ? a mender of watches; watch committee, the committee of a borough council that deals with all matters pertaining to the policing and public lighting of the borough; watch-fire, a fire maintained during the night as a signal, or for the use of a sentinel, party or person on watch; watch-free a., free from the duty of watching or keeping guard; † watch George, ? a George (GEORGE 3) in the form of a watch; watch-guard, a chain, cord, ribbon, or the like used to secure a watch when it is worn on the person; watch-gun, † (a) a spring gun used as a guard against trespassers; (b) Naut. (see quot. 1815); watch hand, each of the hands of a watch; also attrib. in watch-hand rotation, rotation from left to right like that of the hands of a watch; watch-header U.S., the officer in charge of a watch; watch hill (see quot. 1895); watch-hook, a hook for fastening a watch to the dress; † watch hour, the hour for sounding the watch; watch jeweller, a workman who fits the jewels in the pivot-holes of watches; watch-jobber, a mender of watches, esp. as a watchmaker’s employé; watch-keeper, one who keeps watch or serves as a member of a watch on board ship; an officer in charge of a watch; † watch-knoll (-know) Sc. = sense 14; cf. watch-hill; watch lamp, an apparatus for illuminating the face of a watch at night; watch-lining = watch-paper; † watch-mail, -meal Sc., ‘a duty imposed for maintaining a garrison’ (Jam.); watch mark Naut., a mark worn on the sleeve, indicating the watch to which the wearer belongs; † watch-master (see quot.); watch-mastiff, a mastiff kept as a watch dog; watch-mate, a fellow-member of a ship’s watch; † watch-meal (see watch-mail); † watch money, a sum of money paid for watching; watch-nick (see quot.); watch-night, originally a religious service extending over midnight held monthly by Wesleyan Methodists; in later use a service held (by Methodists and others) on New Year’s eve, lasting until midnight; also, the night upon which the service is held; watch-officer, an officer who takes his turn as the officer in charge of the watch; watch-oil, a highly refined lubricating oil used for watches and clocks; watch-paper, a disc of paper, silk, or other material, inscribed or painted with an ornamental design, a picture, rhyme, or other device, inserted as a lining or pad in the outer case of an old-fashioned watch; watch-part = watch train; watch-peal, a warning peal (of a bell); watch-peel (see PEEL sb.1 4); watch-pocket, a small pocket in a garment for carrying a watch; also, a pocket or pouch at the head of a bed, to hold a person’s watch at night; watch point, a watching station; watch pole, a watchman’s pole or staff; watch-post Mil., a position at which a body of soldiers, a sentinel or watchman, is stationed on watch; also, a body of guards; watch rate, a rate levied by a municipal borough to defray the expenses of watching; watch-riband, a watch-guard in the form of a riband; watch round = ROUND sb.1 14; watch-seal = SEAL sb.2 3 f; watch-setting Mil., the posting of the watch; watch-spring, the mainspring of a watch; also (without article) as a material; also attrib.; watch-stand, † (a) a look-out position for a sentinel or watchman; (b) a small case or stand in or upon which a watch may be placed so that its face may be seen; † watch-star = GUARD sb. 12; watch-string, a watch-guard of cord; watch-tackle Naut., a TACKLE (sb. 3) by means of which the watch can perform various operations without the help of additional men; watch train, the set of wheels and pinions that drive the hands of a clock, as distinguished from the striking train; watch-wheel, the balance wheel of the ‘watch-work’ of a clock; also Comb.; watch-woman, (a) a woman who ‘watches’ in a sick room or attends a sick person; (b) a woman who performs the duties of a night watchman; (c) a woman who keeps vigil (nonce-use); † watch-wright, a watchmaker. Also WATCH-BELL, WATCH-BILL, WATCH-BOX, WATCH-CASE, WATCH-CLOCK, WATCH-DOG, WATCH-GLASS, etc.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Watch-alarm, an instrument with going works to sound an alarm at a specified period.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 1016. The *watch-balls of these first rounds have generally not so deep a colour as if they were tried in a furnace three or four months old.
1606. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. iv. Magnif., 1197. Th’ eternall *Watch-births of thy [sc. Solomon’s] sacred Wit [i.e., his three books: Fr. De ton diuin esprit les veilles eternelles].
1789. [T. Anbury], Trav. Amer., I. 303. We are now within sight of the enemy, and their watch-boats are continually rowing about.
1892. C. R. B. Barrett, Essex, iii. 50. The Henrietta [pinnace] was at that time [c. 1664] acting as watch-boat, and there are many references to its ‘staying’ boats that had used trawls.
1910. Times, 13 Oct., 14/3. He was hailed by an Icelandic watchboat and told he was fishing within the three miles limit. The watchboat interrupted their fishing, and finally steamed alongside.
1896. Godey’s Mag., April, 449/1. The *watch bracelet, with its setting of substantial leather, is a convenient adjunct to the cycler.
1601. Holland, Pliny, XVI. xxxvii. I. 485. Rushes … the pith whereof … maketh wieke for *watch-candles, and funerall lights.
1605. Bacon, Adv. Learn., I. iv. § 6. For were it not better for a man in a faire roome, to set up one great light,… than to goe about with a small watch candle into euerie corner?
a. 1711. Ken, Anodynes, Poet. Wks. 1721, III. 421. As in the Night I restless lie, I the Watch-Candle keep in Eye.
1911. Webster, *Watch cap, a knitted close fitting navy blue cap worn by enlisted men in the United States navy in cold or storm.
1896. Paterson Mag. (U.S.), VI. 253/1. The years of *watch-care which she had given to the child left in her charge.
1908. D. S. Mackay, Relig. of Threshold, i. 27. The faith of this man lays hold of God’s watch-care in these two extremes of the day.
1739. Act 12 Geo. II., c. 26 § 13. For assaying … Gold Hooks for *Watch Chains, ten Pence apiece.
1796. Mme. D’Arblay, Camilla, I. 249. Sir Sedley smiled, and played with his watch chain.
1837. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Parl. Sk. The … immensely long waistcoat, and silver watch-chain dangling below it.
1814. Scott, Diary, 18 Aug., in Lockhart (1837), III. vi. 207. Duff and I sit upon deck, like two great bears, wrapt in *watch-cloaks. Ibid. (1825), Betrothed, xiv. Enveloping himself in his long chappe, or military watch-cloak, he [the Norman soldier] withdrew.
1704[?]. in Alice M. Earle, Two Cent. Costume Amer. (1903), II. 407. A White Cape-cloth *Watch-coat.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, I. (Globe), 135. There were also several thick Watch-Coats of the Seamens,… but they were too hot to wear.
1827. E. Mackenzie, Newcastle, II. 726. Each watchman is provided with a warm watch-coat, a lanthorn, a rattle.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xlviii. The Captain … laid her down, and covered her with a great watch-coat.
1756. Toldervy, Hist. 2 Orphans, I. 177. ‘I’ll warrant ye (said a shrewd lawyer, though not Foxer) this Roebuck left his colours for no good.’ ‘Good! ha,’ cried a great greasy *watch-cobler, ‘’tis my belief that he was reduced for cowardice.’
1835. Act 5 & 6 Will. IV., c. 76 § 76. The Council … shall … appoint … a sufficient Number of their own Body, who, together with the Mayor … shall be and be called the *Watch Committee for such Borough.
1884. Encycl. Brit., XVII. 28/1. The mayor … is ex officio a magistrate for the borough and a member of the watch committee.
1801. Scott, Glenfinlas, xxxix. And by the *watch-fire’s glimmering light,… was seen An huntress maid.
1814. Byron, Corsair, I. ii. Such were the notes that from the Pirate’s isle Around the kindling watch-fire rang the while.
1867. Lady Herbert, Cradle L., viii. 215. Watch-fires were lit round the encampment.
1581. Styward, Martial Discipl., I. 30. The which … except in great extremitie shall be *watch free.
1614. in Archæologia, XLII. 350. Item a *watche George.
1834. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Steam Excurs. Miss Emily Taunton was making a *watch-guard. Ibid. (1839), Nickleby, ii. The dark-complexioned men who wear large rings and heavy watch-guards.
1768. Ann. Reg., 106. A maid-servant at Paddington was accidentally shot by a *watch-gun, which was usually set by the family as a defence against rogues.
1772. Regul. H. M. Service at Sea, 9. Captains are forbid to fire the Watch-Gun in any Port … unless there be at least Five of H.M. Ships in Company.
1798. Nelson, in Nicolas, Disp. (1845), III. 132. The Marquis fired a shot from his morning-gun into the Town…. I fire no watch-gun.
1815. Falconer’s Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), Watch-Gun, the gun which is fired on board ships of war at the setting of the watch in the evening, and relieving it in the morning.
1773. Pennsylv. Gaz., 16 June, Suppl. 2/2. [Advt.] Clock and *watch hands.
1882. Minchin, Unipl. Kinemat., 36. An observer … sees … every point in the body rotated about him in a sense opposite to that of watch-hand rotation. Ibid., 222.
1887. Goode, Fisheries of U.S., V. ii. 229 (Cent.). The divisions of the crew are known as the starboard and larboard watches, commanded respectively by the first and second mates or the second and third mates, who are known as *watch-headers.
1560. in J. Scott, Berwick-upon-Tweed (1888), 448. Any man that cometh to the *watch hill and is by the officers to watch.
1895. Lakeland Gloss., Suppl., Watch Hill, the hill from which the outlook was kept against border freebooters; hence now frequent as Border place-name.
1698. Lond. Gaz., No. 3376/4. A Diamond *Watch-Hook … was lost the 17th instant.
c. 1500. Medwall, Nature (Brandl), 43. Who taught the cok hys *watche howres to obserue.
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 102. *Watch jewellers use a glass with double lenses half an inch in diameter.
1895. Daily Chron., 28 Aug., 8/4. *Watch Jobber (Really good) wanted.
1900. F. T. Bullen, With Christ at Sea, xi. 210. The second mate … combined in himself the various offices of bosun, sailmaker, and *watchkeeper.
1920. Times Lit. Suppl., 13 May, 298/4. He exchanged his duties as a watch-keeper in an ironclad for service in the Cockatrice.
1645. in J. Wilson, Annals of Hawick (1850), 65. [A burgess charged with not being present at the riding of the common] confessit he was at the *Watch-Know. [They] assoilzied him of the penalty and fine.
1823. J. Badcock, Dom. Amusem., 203. Contrivance for a *Watch Lamp … which will show the Hour of the Night, without trouble to a person lying in bed.
1857. Dickens, Dorrit, I. xxx. An old silk *watch-lining, worked with beads!
1710. Fountainhall, Decis. (1761), II. 552. Others more probably conjecture from its name given to it by Skeen, voce Pension … of the *watch-meal of Kilpatrick, that it was for the sustenance of the garrison of Dumbarton. Ibid. When this *watch-mail was constitute.
1860. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech. (1862), 83. It is now a general rule throughout the navy to have *‘watch marks’ on the sleeve of the frock.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 479/2. Tesserarius,… the *watchmaister, or the sargeant that giueth the charge or watchword to the souldiers.
1778. W. Pearce, Haunts of Shakespeare, 13.
| Or drowsy *watch-mastiff that bays the sharp wind, | |
| And startles the slumbers that wrap the poor hind. |
1631. L. Fox, N.-W. Fox (1635), 174. That no man shall … make any doubt thereof, eyther … at his Messe or to his *Watch-mate.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, xvi. About midnight we were waked up by our two watch-mates.
1898. F. T. Bullen, Cruise ‘Cachalot,’ xiv. 162. All my watchmates were … waiting to be taken on board again.
1628. Toke (Kent) Estate Acc. (MS.), fol. 125. *Watch money.
c. 1750. in W. Alexander, Notes & Sk. 18th Cent. (1877), 66. There is paid in black mail or watch money, openly, or privately, £5000.
1897. P. Warung, Tales Old Régime, 122. Bunt … owned a *watch-nick—a tiny saw filed out of the tempered steel of a watch-spring.
1742. Wesley, Jrnl., 9 April. We had the first *watch-night in London. We commonly choose for this Solemn Service the Friday night nearest the full moon.
1835. Court Mag., VI. 70/2. A methodist, she always goes to their chapel on New Year’s-eve—or the ‘Watch Night,’ as they call it.
1883. Pall Mall Gaz., 10 July, 10/1. A man … was charged with … annoying the Salvation Army at a ‘watch-night’ service.
1898. Kipling, Fleet in Being, ii. 29. On a third-class cruiser, he [the Sub] is a *watch-officer.
1870. Preece, Telegraphy, 249. Only good *watch-oil should be employed.
1777. in Phil. Trans., LXVII. 335. A *watch-paper … on which there are some very fine hair strokes of a graver.
1818. Hazlitt, Eng. Poets, vii. (1870), 170. Nor did he cut out poetry as we cut out watch-papers.
1858. O. W. Holmes, Aut. Breakf.-t., ix. (1903), 208. He … opened the watch, and handed me the loose outside case without a word.—The watch-paper had been pink once…. Two little birds, a flower [etc.].
1908. [Miss E. Fowler], Betw. Trent & Ancholme, 21. He wrote minutely the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer on watch-papers.
1696. W. D[erham], Artif. Clock-m., i. 3. The *Watch-part of a Movement is that which serveth to the measuring the hours.
1656. Heylin, Surv. France, 12. The Protestants, of this Bell [rung at the procession of the host] … use it as a warning or *watch-peal to avoid that street through which they hear it coming.
1882. A. Geikie, Geol. Sk., i. 7. *Watch-peels, castles, and towers.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., xxxvii. Consulting a copper time-piece which dwelt at the bottom of a deep *watch-pocket, and was raised to the surface by means of a black string.
1845. D. Jerrold, St. Giles, xxi. [The] pistols … he attempted to place in the watch-pocket at the head of the bed.
1893. J. Watson, Conf. Poacher, 167. When a constable, then a second, and a third, were all tearing down upon me from *watch points, where they had been in hiding.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 358, ¶ 1. A Gentleman that has several Wounds in the Head by *Watch Poles.
1852. Grote, Greece, II. lxxii. IX. 298. The occupation of Æolis by the Lacedæmonian general was a sort of *watch-post.
1887. Bowen, Æneid, III. 238. Signal Misenus gives from his watch-post set on the steep.
1888. E[mily] Gerard, Land beyond Forest, II. xxxviii. 144. On the extreme frontier of Transylvania, however, he left behind him a portion of his army, to serve as watch-post.
1835. Act 5 & 6 Will. IV., c. 76 § 92. Provided that in every Case in which before the passing this Act any Rate might be levied in any Borough … for the Purpose of watching … it shall be lawful for the Council of such Borough to levy a *Watch Rate.
1860. Smiles, Self-Help, 114. Flaxman … was on one occasion selected by the ratepayers to collect the watch-rate for the parish of St. Anne.
1834. Marryat, P. Simple, iii. The captain gave a youngster five dozen the other day for wearing a scarlet *watch-riband.
1828–43. Tytler, Hist. Scot. (1864), I. 133. Spalding … determined, on the night when it was his turn to take his part in the *watch rounds, to assist the enemy in an escalade.
1798. Sophia Lee, Canterb. T., Young Lady’s T., II. 151. The *watch-seals … of the Marquis.
1840. Carlyle, Heroes, v. (1841), 293. He does not ‘engrave Truth on his watch-seal.’
1811. Regul. & Orders Army, 101. After which no Trumpet is to sound, or Drum to beat, in the Garrison, except at *Watch-setting and Tattoo. Ibid. (1844), 259. The Trumpet is to sound for Watch-setting, and the Tattoo is to beat at Eight o’clock.
1920. Daily Tel., 21 March, 10/7. The ceremony of playing ‘Retreat’ on watch-setting is observed all over the Empire wherever an infantry battalion is quartered.
1760. in Phil. Trans., LI. 829. I cut off several slips from different leaves, each of which I placed between two bits of *watch-spring.
1815. J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 375. Thin plates … rolled up in the manner of a watch-spring.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., liv. The fat boy returned, slumbering as peaceably in his dickey, over the stones, as if it had been a down bed on watch-springs.
1843. Holtzapffel, Turning, I. 250. Watch springs are hammered out of round steel wire of suitable diameter, until they fill the gage for width.
1897. Daily News, 1 June, 7/4. The watch-spring steel is manufactured at Sheffield.
1610. Healey, St. Aug. Citie of God, III. xii. 121. In time of warre, or suspition, the watchmen placed bundels of drye small sticks, vpon their high *watch-stands [L. in editis speculis].
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Watch-stand, a mantel-piece or toilet rest or support for a watch.
1588. Ashley, Wagenar’s Mariners Mirr., B 2 b. If the said *watch stars stand South southwest. [Cf. supra, ‘those Guardes or Watchers of Vrsa minor.’]
1773. Pennsylv. Gaz., 16 June, Suppl. 2/2. [Advt.] Silver and steel watch chains,… silk *watch strings.
1789. Trifler, No. xxxiii. 427. A gentleman of the present age has seldom more taste than he can … lavish away in the choice of a watch-string.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, xxv. By … clapping *watch-tackles upon all the sheets and halyards, we managed to hold our own.
1838. Penny Cycl., XII. 299/1. The one … gives motion to the train of wheels called the going or *watch train; the other to the striking train of wheels.
1894. F. J. Britten, Former Watch & Clockm., 210. The ‘going’ or ‘watch’ train, that drives the hands.
1568. Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden), 132. For the mendinge of the staye of the *wache while … jd. Ibid. (1569), 136. For the mending of the watchwhele of the clock.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 362/1. The Second is termed the Ballance Wheel of a Clock…. Some call it the Wauch Wheel, or Motion Wheel.
1813. Examiner, 5 April, 219/1. R. Payne,… watch-wheel-maker.
1638. G. Daniel, Eclog, i. 170. Thy verse may creepe To Chimneyes, or *watch-women till they sleepe.
1829. Good’s Study Med. (ed. 3), IV. 96. The mischievous fondness of her nearest relations has since removed this faithful watchwoman [female attendant].
1836. Longf., Life (1891), I. 245. At Brunnen there is no watchman, but a watchwoman.
1674. N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 75. The *Watch-wrights craft being not only the Ape of Nature, but the very Tool, still in her hand.
