watch fire
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of watch fire
First recorded in 1795–1805
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.
Barton House was built in 1958 and has had "waking watch" fire marshals patrolling the building since May 2022.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2023
Many leaseholders have also seen sharply increasing service charges, and some have had to pay for so-called "waking watch" fire wardens.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2022
The stolid peasants who saw the Red Army drive bewildered Germans back are descendants of patient men who have straightened up to watch fire & sword swoop by for 30 generations.
From Time Magazine Archive
We had not time to cook, and the rain prevented the watch fire from burning; owing to which one of our asses was killed by the wolves.
From The Journal of a Mission to the Interior of Africa, in the Year 1805 by Whishaw, John
And to sit by a lonely watch fire in the woods in the dead of night is to unlock the doors of romance.
From The Campfire Girls on Ellen's Isle The Trail of the Seven Cedars by Frey, Hildegard G. (Hildegard Gertrude)
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.
