watch

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noun

1 instrument for telling the time

ADJECTIVE

▪ digital

▪ analogue/analog, mechanical (esp. AmE)

▪ pocket, wrist (usually wristwatch)

▪ sports

▪ designer

▪ antique

▪ quartz

▪ diamond, gold, silver

VERB + WATCH

▪ check, consult, glance at, look at

▪ reset, set

▪

Don't forget to set your watch to local time.

▪ synchronize

▪

Let's synchronize our watches.

▪ wind

▪

Quartz watches don't need winding.

▪ have on, wear

▪ put on

▪ take off

WATCH + VERB

▪ go, work

▪

My watch is ten years old and it's still going.

▪ stop

▪

Sorry I'm late—my watch has stopped.

▪ be slow, lose sth

▪

My watch loses a minute each day.

▪ be fast, gain sth

▪ read sth (esp. AmE), say sth, show sth

▪

My watch says three o'clock.

▪ beep

▪

Her wrist watch beeped.

WATCH + NOUN

▪ face

▪ band (usually watchband) (AmE), strap (BrE)

▪ battery

2 guard

ADJECTIVE

▪ careful, close, vigilant (esp. BrE)

▪

I kept a close watch on my bag as I sat on the train.

▪

They kept a vigilant watch for the enemy.

▪ constant

▪ night

▪ flood, hurricane (esp. AmE), storm, tornado (esp. AmE)

▪

We have tornado watches in effect for a lot of Florida.

▪ suicide

▪

prisoners on suicide watch

▪ neighbourhood/neighborhood

VERB + WATCH

▪ keep, stand

▪

Two soldiers were ordered to keep watch for enemy aircraft.

▪ put

▪

The garrison commander had put an extra watch on the prisoners.

▪ post

▪

That night they posted watches.

▪ maintain

▪

The authorities maintained a careful watch over the establishment.

▪ issue (AmE)

▪

They're in charge of issuing the tornado watches.

WATCH + NOUN

▪ committee

▪ tower

▪ list (AmE)

▪

the terrorist watch list

PREPOSITION

▪ on watch

▪

Some of the crew were sleeping, while others were on watch.

▪ on the watch for

▪

Cats are constantly on the watch for mice or other small mammals.

PHRASES

▪ keep watch over sb/sth, stand watch over sb/sth

▪

She keeps watch over the inmates.

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verb

ADVERB

▪ carefully, closely

▪

She watched the man closely to see where he would go.

▪ attentively, avidly, eagerly, expectantly, intensely (esp. AmE), intently

▪ curiously

▪

I could see Robby watching curiously.

▪ absently, idly, lazily

▪ calmly, impassively, numbly, passively

▪ patiently

▪

I spent hours patiently watching the eagles.

▪ anxiously, apprehensively, helplessly, nervously, warily

▪

She watched helplessly as her husband was dragged away.

▪ open-mouthed

▪ enviously

▪

He leant in and kissed her as I watched enviously.

▪ amusedly (AmE), in amusement, with amusement

▪ covertly, secretly

▪ in silence, quietly, silently

▪ just, merely, simply

▪

I love just watching the world go by.

▪ religiously

▪

My father religiously watched the show every Friday night.

VERB + WATCH

▪ could only

▪

They could only watch in silence as their possessions were taken away.

▪ continue to

▪ pause to, stay to, stop to

▪

They stopped to watch the procession go by.

▪ let sb

▪

He let me watch while he assembled the model.

PREPOSITION

▪ for

▪

We watched for any sign of change in the weather.

▪ from

▪

They watched from an upstairs window.

▪ in

▪

She watched in astonishment as he smashed the machine to pieces.

▪ over

▪

Maria asked Amelia to watch over her daughter.

▪ with

▪

He watched with great interest how she coaxed the animals inside.

PHRASES

▪ sit and watch, stand and watch

▪

She stood and watched them walk off down the road.

▪ watch and wait

▪

He couldn't get in touch with her, so he would just have to watch and wait.

▪ widely watched

▪

the most widely watched national news bulletins in the country

Watch is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑eye, ↑fan, ↑tongue, ↑viewer

Watch is used with these nouns as the object: ↑baseball, ↑basketball, ↑broadcast, ↑calorie, ↑cartoon, ↑channel, ↑clip, ↑clock, ↑collapse, ↑commercial, ↑concert, ↑coverage, ↑credit, ↑cricket, ↑crowd, ↑dawn, ↑demonstration, ↑destruction, ↑disc, ↑display, ↑documentary, ↑drama, ↑DVD, ↑edition, ↑end, ↑episode, ↑execution, ↑exit, ↑expression, ↑fight, ↑figure, ↑film, ↑firework, ↑football, ↑game, ↑golf, ↑headline, ↑hockey, ↑intake, ↑kid, ↑language, ↑match, ↑movement, ↑movie, ↑news, ↑parade, ↑performance, ↑play, ↑programme, ↑progress, ↑recording, ↑reflection, ↑replay, ↑rugby, ↑scene, ↑scenery, ↑screen, ↑sheep, ↑show, ↑sky, ↑soap opera, ↑soccer, ↑spectacle, ↑sunset, ↑tape, ↑television, ↑tennis, ↑thriller, ↑traffic, ↑trailer, ↑video, ↑videotape, ↑waistline, ↑weight