keep watch

1. Also,; watch over. Observe with continuous attention, especially to act as a sentinel or for protection. For example, Afraid that the wolves would return, she kept watch while the others slept, or They kept a close watch on the harbor, looking for signs of enemy ships, or, according to the Gospel of St. Luke (2:8): “And there were in the same country shepherds ... keeping watch over their flock by night.” [Late 1300s] Also see keep an eye out for.

Example Sentences

Staff for nearby programs tried to keep people inside to make sure they stayed safe, accompanying clients outside to keep watch on them during their smoke breaks.

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But with the sun starting to dip behind the mountains, we finally give up, and leave the Sentinel to keep watch for the night.

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He ends with the sort of message that drives the flawed and often inadequate heroes of these books to stand up and resist or speak truth to power: “Let us, then, look forward to the future with that salutary fear which makes men keep watch and ward for freedom, not with that faint and idle terror which depresses and enervates the heart.”

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These are the public companies to keep watch over throughout the next few years, the biggest Trump bettors that will soon find out whether “doing business with Hitler” was worth it after all:

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The delayed transfer illustrates the Biden administration’s continuing struggle to find countries willing to resettle and keep watch on the 16 cleared detainees, who are among the 30 men held at Guantánamo.

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Related Words

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