watch-clock 
2. A timepiece used asatime-deteetor or time- watch-gun (woch'gun^, " 
reporter for a watchman. It is made iu many forms. 
One kiuil is a small portable clock that must be carried 
by the watchman to ilitferent stations on his rounds. At watch-lieader (woeil'hed"er) 
each station a special key fastened, to a cham^must 1« .^^ ^j^^^.^^ ^^ ^ ^^^^^ 
The divisions of the crew are known as the starboard 
and larboard watches, commanded respectively by the 
first and second mates or the second and third mates, who 
are known as watch-headertf. 
FiiheHe.) of the U. S., V. iL 229. 
A house in 
—2. A house 
used to make a mark on a paper dial inside the clock 
thus makliij! a record of the performance of his duty. 
Another form consists of a B.ved clock, having a key that 
must be touched to make the record, a clock being placed 
at each station. Another and now more common form 
is a clock placed at a central station, and connected by 
wires with the place where the watchman makes his x ^^ •hn.ioo ^wn<.1i'Vinii«1 n 1 
rounds; at c.ich station the watchman touches a push- WatCh-llOUSe (woch hous), «. 1, 
button to close the circuit and print a miirk on a dial in which a watch or guard is pJaced. 
the clock. 
watch-dog (woch'dog), II. A dog kept to watch 
or guard premises and property. 
'Tis sweet to hear the watch-doij't honest bark 
Bay deep-mouth'd welcome as we draw near home. 
Byron^ Don Juan, i. 123. 
watcher (woch'^r), n. One wlio or that which 
watches. Specifically — (a) One who sits up and con- 
tinues awake ; one who lies awake. 
Get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us, 
And show us to be watchers. 
Shak., Macbeth, ii. 2. 71. 'watching (woch'ing), II. 
(6) One who keeps awake for the purpose of guarding or ji.] A keeping awake ; a vigil 
attending upon something or some one ; a nurse, watch- j^^ u-atcMw» often, 
man, sentry, or the like. ^ . ., . . , ^. -, 
On the f routers . . . were act watchmen and watchers ^f ^S^^^^f °'^«"- •^'™'' ^ "^^"^ o/>«'«™ (which 
in dyuers manner ^^^ ^^ ^^ Froissarfs Chron., II. xlix. watching-candle Jwoeh^ing-_kan''dl), «. Tlie 
A chair'd and wrinkled piece of womanhood 
6836 water 
fired at the and watches. Olive- or almond-oil after elarify- 
chaiiging of the watch, as in a fortress or gar- ing is much used for this purpose. Also elock- 
rison, or on board a man-of-war. oil. 
n. The officer watch-paper (woeh'pa''pir), ii. A small circle 
of x)aper, silk, muslin, or other material, in- 
serted in the outer case of an old-fashioned 
watch, to prevent the metal from defacing the 
inner case. These papers were frequently cut with 
elaborate designs, or painted with miniatures or ciphers 
and cievices. Those of textile fabrics were embroidereil 
in silk, or with human hair. Commoner ones were printed 
with the head of some public character, or with some motto 
where niglit-watehmen assemhle previous to .y^ateh-peei (woeh'pel), «. A watch-tower, 
the hour at which they enter upon their respec- ...,.,., ■ 1 , , i . 
luo uc^ui 0,1- ,Yu» J j;„t„„v.^„„ „j +!,„ ,^„„„o Watch-peels, castles, and towers looked out upon us as 
tive beats, and where disturbers of the peace ^^ ^alkcT GeHde, Geol. Sketches, L 
are brought before a magistrate ; a lockup. ^^^^ 8^^^^^ ^ ^^ ^.^ J^ ^^^ _ .^ ^^ ^^ i^j^^ 
At the Golden Ball and 2 Green Posts (There bemg a head-eui-tain of a bed for holding the watch at 
Hatch with Iron spikes at the doorX near the H ateA-ifoi/»e . , ° 
in Lambeth Marsh. nignt. ,, .,, „,, , 
Quoted in /l«/i(o»s Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, watch-polO (woch pol), 11. 1 he pole or tniu- 
[I. 118. cheon carried by a watchman. 
[Verbal n. of irateli, 
2 Cor. xi. 27. 
eyelids ? " Academy of Compliments (1714). 
watch-jewel (woch'jo'el), «. A jewel, usually 
a ruby, in wliich is drilled a hole for an arbor, 
used in the works of a watch, to lessen friction 
and wear. 
A small key with a 
Sat watching like a ivatcher by the dead. 
Tennyson, Princess, v. 
(c) One who observes ; as, a watcher of the time. 
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies, 
When a new planet swims into his ken. 
Keats, .Sonnets, xi. 
(d) A spy ; one sent to watch an enemy. Jer. iv. 16. 
watchett (woch'et), «. and a. [Early mod. 
E. also watched; < ME. wacliet, waget, watjett, ■^atch-key (woeh'ke), « 
i-achet; prob. from an OF. form ult. connected - ~ . 
with woatL] A light- or pale-blue color. 
Cetestro, azure, watchet, or skie-colour. Celeste, heauen- 
lie, celestiall. Also skie-colour or azure and watchet. 
Floi'io. 
Yclad he was ful snial and proprely 
Al in a kirtel of a lyght waget. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. Vi^>. 
[Tliere are MS. variations cachet, wagett, and wachet, of 
which the last only is in print. ] 
Their watchet mantles frindgd with silver rownd. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. iv. 40. 
The greater shippes were towed downe with boates and 
oares, and the mariners, being all apparelled in ivatchet ov 
skie coloured clothe, rowed a maine, and made way with 
diligence. 
Hakluyt's Voyai/es, quoted in R. Eden (First Books on 
[America, ed. Arber, p. xxxviii.). 
His habit is antique, the stuife 
Watchet and sillier. 
Dekker, Londons Tenipe. 
I know a gentleman that has several wounds in the 
head by watch-poles, and has been thrice run through the 
body to carry on a good jest. Steele, Spectator, No. 358. 
watch-rate (woch'rat), «. A rate authorized 
to be levied in England for watching and light- 
^ , „ ing a parish or borough. 
candle used at the watching or waking of a watchspring(woch'spring),M. The mainspring 
corpse. of a watch. 
V^^hy should I twine my aims to cables, sit up all night watch-stand (woch'stand), II. A contrivance 
like a watching -candle, and distil my brains throughmy for holding the watch when it is not worn on the 
person, enabling the dial to be seen. The form is 
often that of a small clock-case, and the stands of the 
eighteenth century were frequently very rich, both in ma- 
terial and in workmanship. 
watch-tackle (woch'tak"l), n. Naut., a small 
tackle consisting of a double and single block 
with a fall. Also called handy-billy. 
By hauling every brace and bowline, and clapping watch- 
tackles upon all the sheets and halyards, we managed to 
hold our own. Ii. H. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 250. 
square tube to fit the winding-arbor of a watch 
serving to wind the watch by coiling the main 
spring. _ _ 
^*S-S^,^r^ri^^use^i'^Si^'^ ,^ch^lescope-(;;;ch't;Ke-sk6p), .7^ 
sick-room. There 's a star • watch-tciwor (woch'tou'er), w. A tower on 
MorcUo 's gone, the watrh-liffhts'show the wall. which a sentinel is placed to watcli for enemies, 
Ilroiening, Andrea del Sarto. 
watchmaker (woch'ma"ker), n. One whose oc- 
cupation is to make and repair watches — Watch- 
makers' cramp, a neurosis affecting watchmakers, in 
which, through irregular muscular action, it becomes im- 
possible to bidd in the eye-socket the lens with which they 
examine their work. Occasionally also the lingers are af- 
fected in a niannei- similar to what is observed in writers' 
cramp.— Watclimakers' drill. 8eedr«ii. 
watchmaking (w()eh'ina"king), «. The art or 
operation of making watches ; the business or 
eupation of a watchmaker. 
watch-fire (woch'fir), n. A fire maintained watchman (woeh'man), »i.; pi. imteAmof (-men). 
■ - - - - [< ME. jfrtCc/ieTOrtH; < tt'ote/i + J«a«.J A person 
set to keep watcli; specifically, a sentinel; a 
guard ; one who guards the streets of a city by 
night; also, one set to keep guard, as over a 
building in the night, to protect it from fire or 
thieves. 
They went, and made the sepulcie sure with watche 
men, and sealed the stone. 
Tyndale (1626), Mat. xxvli. 66. 
Watchman, what of the night? Isa. xxi. 11. 
Our watchmen from the towers, with longing eyes, 
Expect his swift arrival. Dt^den, Spanish Friar, i. 1. 
Who has not heard the Scowrer's Midnight Fame? 
Who has not trembled at the Mohock's Name? 
Was there a Watchnuin took his hourly Rounds 
Safe from their Blows or new invented Wounds? 
Oay, Trivia, iii. 327. 
Watchman's clock. See docJ-2. 
watch-mark (woch'mark), n. A mark worn on 
the right or the left arm of a man in the naval 
service according as he is stationed iu the star- 
during the night as a signal, or for the use of 
a watching party, guard, sentinels, etc. , 
watchful (woch'fiil), «. \< iiHitch + -Jul.'] It. 
Wakeful ; sleepless. 
What watchful cares do interpose themselves 
Betwixt your eyes and night? Shak., .1. C, ii. 1. 98. 
2. Vigilant; careful; wary; cautious; obser- 
vant; alert; on the watch: with o/ before the 
thing to be regulated or observed, and against 
before the thing to be avoided: as, to be watch- 
ful o/ one's behavior; to be watchful against 
the gi'owth of vicious habits. 
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain. 
Rev. Iii. 2. 
Watchful Servants to the Bagnio come. 
They're ne'er admitted to the liathing-room. 
Couf/reve, tr. of Ovid's Art of Love. 
= Syil. 2. Watchful, Vif/ilnnt, Wakeful, attentive, heedful, 
circumspect, guarded. Wakeful refers to the lack of dis- 
position to sleep, especially at times when one would 
ordinarily have such a disposition; watchful and vigilant 
refer to the mind, will, or conduct : they are of about 
^^^^'^ °^ "'e port watch 
equal vigor ; watchful is thu bi'oader''in iteVaiige of meaii- watch-meeting ( woch'me'''ting), n. A religious 
ing. meeting or religious services held on the last 
watchfully (wooh'ful-i), adr. In a watchful night of the year, and terminated on the ar- 
manner; vigilantly; heedfully; with careful rival of the new year. See watch-nijiht. 
observation of the approach of evil, or with at- wa'tchmentt(woeh'ment), «. [(.wnteh -\--i)ieiit.'i 
tention to duty. A watching; vigil; observation. [Rare.] 
watchfulness (woch'ful-nes), v. The state or My irafctoeMfs are now over, by my master's direction, 
character of being watchful, in any sense. Hichardsun, Pamela, 1. 171. 
watch-glass (wocb'glas), 
used to measure 
shipboard : usually a half-hour glass. — 2. A 
•b glas), n. 1. A sand-glass ^atch-night (woch'nit), n. 
: the time of a watch, as on t,,p ^.g^j.^ g,^ ^iii^j in gome 
>ly "■ ^}^^i-^tonT g\Rss.-2. A services are held till the adv „„..^.„.. 
thin concavo-convex piece of glass used for cratch-officer (woch'of'i-ser), «. The officer in 
covering the dial ot a watch. Those made in recent ,.iiarge of the deck of a ship, who takes his turn 
tunes for watches that have not a double case, or hunting- ...-i. *'„.,,„„„ • , ,..„.,j: „V,.i,„„ /i,.,.; i.;.,i. 
for the approach of danger, etc. 
I stand continually upon the imtch-totcer in the day- 
time. Isa. xxi. 6. 
Almut a mile from the towue there is a very high and 
strong watch tomr. Corpat, Crudities, I. 10. 
watchword (woch'werd), w. [< ME. iracche- 
Wfird ; < watch + uord.'] 1. A word or short 
phrase to be communicated on challenge to the 
watch or sentinels in a camp; a password or 
signal by which friends can be known from 
enemies. 
Wacche wordes to wale, thatweghis might know. 
Destruction of Tray (E. E. T. S.), L 8056. 
Hence — 2. Any preconcerted indication or a 
direction eagerly watched for, as a signal for 
action. 
All have theyr eares upright, wayting when the wateji- 
woord shall come that they should all rise generally into 
rebellion. Spemer, State of Ireland. 
3. A word used as a motto, as expressive of a 
principle or rule of action; a maxim, byword, 
or rallying-cry. 
" Now " is the constant syllable ticking from the clock of 
time. " Now " is the waffAtro)-d of the wise. *'Now'*is 
on the banner of the prudent. Parr. 
His watchword is honour, his pay is renown. 
Scott, Rokeby, v. id. 
4t. The call of a watchman or sentry as he goes 
his rounds. 
Since when a watchword every minute of the night 
goeth about the wals to testifie their vigilancy. 
Sandys, Travailes, p. 10. 
To set a watchword uponi, to make proverbial ; turn 
into a byword. 
S. Paule himselfe (who yet for the creditc of Poets) al- 
ledgeth twise two Poets, . . . setteth a watch-wvrd rpon 
Philosophy, indeede vpon the abuse. So dooth Plat<i, vpon 
the abuse, not vpon Poetrie. Plato found fault that the 
Poet of his time filled the worlde with wrong opinions of 
the Gods. Sir P. Sidney, Apol. for Poetrie. 
watchwork (woch'w^rk), n. The machinery 
of a watch: now usually in the plural. 
See iril^. 
r hunting' 
case, are thicker, and have a peculiar flattened curve. 
Compare crystal, 2 (c). 
watch-guard (woch'giird), u. A chain, ribbon, 
or cord fastened to a watch, and either jnissed 
around the neck or secured to some part of the watch-oil (woch'oil), n. A refined, very limpid 
i-lothing. and Huid liibricating-oil, used in oiling clocks 
The last night of watet, ''. 1. A form of trofl. 
churches, religious water (wa'ter), n. [< ME. water, watre, irifter, 
services are held till the advent of the new year, witcr, < AS. ica'^fr = OS. watar = OFries. weter, 
" " -. -. _., „ . „.„^f,,._i). „■«/(.,._ MLG.ifflferrrOHG.trar-'nr, 
MHG. waz:er, G. wasser. water; with a formative 
-r, akin to leel. rain = Sw. ratten = Dan. rand = 
Goth, wato (pi. wntno), in which a different for- 
mative -II appears; cf. OBulg. Kuss. roda. Lith. 
wandfi, Gr. i'Sup (ii^ar-, v6p-), Skt. udan, water; < 
Tent. V "•"'. Indo-Eur. V wnd, be wet. Cf. wash, 
perhaps from the same rootas water. See iretl.] 
with others in standing watches, during which 
time, suliject to the authority of the command- 
ing officer, he has charge of the ship. Also 
called tipiirr of the watch. 
