watchman

[ woch-muhn ]
See synonyms for watchman on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural watch·men.
  1. a person who keeps guard over a building at night, to protect it from fire, vandals, or thieves.

  2. (formerly) a person who guards or patrols the streets at night.

Origin of watchman

1
late Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at watch, man

Other words from watchman

  • watch·man·ly, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use watchman in a sentence

  • In the larger village of Onao they met a group of chowkidars, or watchmen, in the main street.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • Outside in the courtyard the fire was kept burning, beside which two watchmen sat all night smoking and telling stories.

    Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. Pike
  • His watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant: dumb dogs not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping and loving dreams.

  • And I appointed watchmen over you, saying: Hearken ye to the sound of the trumpet.

  • Guarding the door was one of the watchmen, who, from his great physique, might well have been a policeman out of livery.

    The Double Four | E. Phillips Oppenheim

British Dictionary definitions for watchman

watchman

/ (ˈwɒtʃmən) /


nounplural -men
  1. a person employed to guard buildings or property

  2. (formerly) a man employed to patrol or guard the streets at night

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012