watchman
Americannoun
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watchmen
plural
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a person who keeps guard over a building at night, to protect it from fire, vandals, or thieves.
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(formerly) a person who guards or patrols the streets at night.
noun
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a person employed to guard buildings or property
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(formerly) a man employed to patrol or guard the streets at night
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of watchman
late Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at watch, man
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.
See Examples For:
Dick ordered Edward and Glenn Juenke, the night watchman, to begin evacuating Bug House and two other cabins by the river.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
He claimed the duo pushed past the night watchman, collected the artwork and drove to a block of flats in the Isle of Dogs where Mr Love unloaded the Banksy.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2025
They had also planted a watchman in the bank, Patrick Shevlin.
From Slate ● Dec. 28, 2023
The National Transportation Safety Board blamed Boylan for the tragedy, saying his failure to post a roving night watchman allowed the fire to quickly spread undetected, trapping the 33 passengers and one crew member below.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2023
But the night watchman of the Eiffel Tower, and some passengers who land in an airplane, are mysteriously able to move around the silent city.
From "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick
In cellars and basements across the city, African-Americans hosted parties where white and black New Yorkers regularly shared the dance floor, imbibed together and sometimes got into fisticuffs that prompted the intervention of neighborhood watchmen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Wealthy people employed "thief takers" to guard their property, whilst ordinary folk had to make do with volunteer watchmen, who focused on the more basic task of keeping order.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2025
For much of the next 12 years, soldiers and local watchmen patrolled the streets to ensure that shops remained open and penalize anyone they saw engaging in the usual festive excess.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2024
One of the night watchmen is Cuban; so is the waitress at the usual lunch spot; the carpenter just showed up with two Cuban assistants; the salon has just added a Cuban hairdresser.
From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2019
In that clear air watchmen on the walls saw afar a new sight of fear, and their last hope left them.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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