watch list
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of watch list
First recorded in 1970–75
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.
Runyan said Ghazali was not under federal investigation before the attack and was not on a US terror watch list.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
By the time of the attack, Otto, Friedel and Ruth were all on a government watch list, with orders for their arrests in the event of war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
He also added Nigeria to the government’s religious freedom watch list.
From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2025
A founding board member of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Poitras knows those risks firsthand; her reporting in Iraq landed her on a U.S. watch list in 2006, leading to repeat border detentions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025
But shellfish never hit that particular watch list.
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
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.
