watchman

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
18
Words With Friends
20
Letters
8
Pronunciation
/ˈwɒtʃmən/

Definition of watchman

2 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. A man set to watch: a man who keeps guard, especially one who guards a building, or the streets of a city, by night; (loosely) any such person of any sex or gender.
    “Near-synonyms: watcher, watchwoman”
    “The visits of the watchman to that (then) obscure and ill-inhabited neighborhood were more regulated by his indolence than his duty; and Clarence knew that it would be in vain to listen for his cry or tarry for his assistance.”
    “Well, it so happened that Stine and the cook were sitting in their room one evening, mending and darning their things; it was near bedtime, for the watchman had already sung out "Ten o'clock," but somehow the darning and the sewing went on very slowly indeed[.]”
    “Watchmen are stationed continuously at each end of the bridge, and the main spans are patrolled twice during the night.”
    “In 1972, a night watchman patrolling a hotel-office complex noticed that the basement garage door had been taped open and, attributing this to the carelessness of a maintenance worker earlier that day, peeled the tape off.”
See all 2 definitions

noun

  1. A man set to watch: a man who keeps guard, especially one who guards a building, or the streets of a city, by night; (loosely) any such person of any sex or gender.
    “Near-synonyms: watcher, watchwoman”
    “The visits of the watchman to that (then) obscure and ill-inhabited neighborhood were more regulated by his indolence than his duty; and Clarence knew that it would be in vain to listen for his cry or tarry for his assistance.”
    “Well, it so happened that Stine and the cook were sitting in their room one evening, mending and darning their things; it was near bedtime, for the watchman had already sung out "Ten o'clock," but somehow the darning and the sewing went on very slowly indeed[.]”
    “Watchmen are stationed continuously at each end of the bridge, and the main spans are patrolled twice during the night.”
    “In 1972, a night watchman patrolling a hotel-office complex noticed that the basement garage door had been taped open and, attributing this to the carelessness of a maintenance worker earlier that day, peeled the tape off.”

name

  1. A surname.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English waccheman. By surface analysis, watch + -man.

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