watch and ward
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of watch and ward
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400
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.
Mourned the Daily Mail: "The vision of an alert, unsleeping corps of first-class brains keeping watch and ward has taken another blow."
From Time Magazine Archive
At Kendal watch and ward was strictly maintained, not for the purpose of keeping out marauding Scots or other undesirable characters, but for the maintenance of quiet and order in the streets.
From Bygone Cumberland and Westmorland by Daniel Scott
They saw desolation on the plain below, and tall chimneys kept watch and ward over a field of smouldering embers.
From The Story of the Great Fire in St. John, N.B., June 20th, 1877 by George Stewart
Round the houses, watch and ward were constantly kept to prevent egress.
From Old Church Lore by William Andrews
Of watch and ward as applied to town and village life as distinct from Border service there may be found in Cumberland and Westmorland records many very interesting and suggestive reminders.
From Bygone Cumberland and Westmorland by Daniel Scott
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.
