night watch

American  

noun

1. a watch or guard kept during the night.

2. a person or the persons keeping such a watch.

3. Usually night watches the periods or divisions into which the night was divided in ancient times.

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night watch British  

noun

1. a watch or guard kept at night, esp for security

2. the period of time the watch is kept

3. a person who keeps such a watch; night watchman

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Other Word Forms

• night watching
  noun

Etymology

Origin of night watch

before 1000; Middle English; Old English

Example Sentences

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

Boylan, who had not ordered a roving night watch as people slept, was convicted in 2023 of seaman’s manslaughter and sentenced in May to four years in federal prison.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 2, 2024

Felix Sunday, a college student in Kaduna, said that he was 16 when he joined a local vigilante group in 2021, and that he struggles to combine the night watch with his studies.

From Seattle Times • May 28, 2023

Ronda Harris, 48, attended McBath’s election night watch party to show her support for a woman, who like her, is grieving the loss of a son.

From Washington Post • May 24, 2022

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