night watch
Americannoun
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a watch or guard kept during the night.
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a person or the persons keeping such a watch.
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Usually night watches the periods or divisions into which the night was divided in ancient times.
noun
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a watch or guard kept at night, esp for security
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the period of time the watch is kept
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a person who keeps such a watch; night watchman
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of night watch
before 1000; Middle English; Old English
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One morning soon after, as Giulia is chopping fruit and stirring porridge, the night watch tells her about an unusual little light that's been spotted on the horizon.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2025
The government said Boylan failed to post the required roving night watch and never properly trained his crew in firefighting.
From Seattle Times ● May 1, 2024
Prosecutors say Jerry Boylan was negligent when he failed to institute a roving night watch or conduct proper fire drills before the fire that killed 34.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2023
By night, allies and friends look out for him, taking turns on night watch shifts outside the lavvu to keep him safe.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2023
I knew the two I had to get, ’cause one was the longest and one was the shortest, and that he didn’t use either one after dinner, when the night watch came on.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
