:
The cat was on the wall, watching for birds. gfl
.watch 'out (informal) used to warn sb about
sth dangerous /j>4>; Jf:
Watch out! There’s a car coming! /Jn & ! H
A A T ! watch out for sb/sth 1 to
make an effort to be aware of what is happening, so that you will notice if
anything bad or unusual happens W
& M; § M: The
cashiers were asked to watch out for forged banknotes.
2 to be careful of sth /Js >l> ; ^ >[> : Watch out for the
stairs—they’re steep.
.watch 'over sb/sth (formal) to take care of
sb/sth; to guard and protect sb/sth
j$f; w
■
noun 1 [C] a type of small
clock that you wear on your wrist, or (in the past) carried in your pocket A A;
( IB N" fft ) %
A: She kept looking anxiously at her watch. A^JL^fAo o My watch is fast/
slow. (ft
A'& / H 7 „ — picture o clock,
jewellery
—
see also stopwatch,
wristwatch 2 [sing., U] the act
of watching sb/sth
carefully in case of possible danger or problems The police have
mounted a watch outside the hotel. A
S. A Ha o 0 I’ll keep watch while you go through his papers (= watch and warn you
if somebody is coming), ffc It $ fib (ft A # > 3$ A o 0 The government is keeping a close watch on how the situation develops. j$t
—see
also neighbourhood watch 3 [C,
U] a fixed period of time, usually while other people are asleep, during which
sb watches for any danger so that they can warn others, for example on a ship;
the person or people who do this ft $E ( A ) ;
W$c ( A ) ; AA ( A ) : Tm onfirstwatch.
iEo 0 I go on watch in an hour. AAlftfS flitt’o —see also nightwatchman
HTTM! be on the
watch (for sb/sth) to be looking carefully for sb/sth that you expect to
see, especially in order to avoid possible danger /Js & $| gfr; 1? :
Be on the watch for
thieves. l?$!l$j Afir o — more at close2
adj. watchabie /‘wntjabl; NAmE 'waitj-; 'woitj-/ adj.
(informal) entertaining or
pleasant to watch {If# (ft watch-band /'wDtJbsend; NAmE waitj-; woitj-/ noun (NAmE) = WATCH STRAP
watch-dog /'wntjdng; NAmE ‘waitjdoig; 'woitj-/ noun a person or group of
people whose job is to check that companies are not doing anything illegal or
ignoring people’s rights ( Afb&f'JlftA-JKl
^
—
compare guard
dog
watcher /'wntja(r);-
NAmE 'waitj-; 'woitj-/ noun (often in compounds i*]) a person who watches and
studies sb/sth regularly ■■■%%%■, ••• M %
M : an industry/a market watcher fxik / — see also
BIRDWATCHER,
CLOCK-WATCHER watch-ful /'wDtffl; NAmE 'waitj-; 'woitj-/ adj. paying attention to
what is happening in case of danger, accidents, etc. a;#;
(ft; $IIE(ft: Her expression
was watchful and
alert. &h&h.£!l$j
(ft A 'If o 0 His mother kept a watchful eye on
him.
(ft # A # #] ® A fib 0 0 The children played under the watchful eye
of their teacher. W
(ft ^ fft T3?c
'fifo
►
watch-ful-ly /-fali/ adv. watch-ful-ness noun [U] .watching 'brief noun [sing.] the task of watching a group, especially a
political organization, to make sure that it is doing everything it should and
nothing wrong or illegal ( X^^mm ) 'MM, watch-maker /'wntjmeikafr); NAmE 'waitj-; 'woitj-/ noun a person who makes
and repairs watches and clocks as a job #bAE; fcbAfltfifiA; f^AE watch-man /'WDtJman; NAmE 'waitj-; 'woitj-/ noun (pi. -men /-man/) (old-fashioned) a man whose job is to guard a building,
for example a bank, an office building or a factory, especially at night ( |b]
) f£ A
fi, AAA, HHliS. — see
also nightwatchman 'watch strap (BrE) (NAmE 'watch-band) noun a thin strip of
leather, etc. for fastening your watch around your wrist — picture o jewellery
watch-tower /'wDtJtaua(r);
NAmE 'waitj-; 'woitj-/ noun a
tall tower from which soldiers, etc. watch when they are guarding a place
HgEgig;
watch-word /'WDtJw3id;
NAmE 'wa:tjw3ird; 'woitj-/ noun a
word or phrase that expresses sb’s beliefs or attitudes, or that explains what
sb should do in a particular situation PA; ^ iff; *§ : Quality is our
watchword. MiiJifcfn (ft P water CH* /*wo:t0(r); NAmE also
'wait-/ noun, verb ». noun 1 [U] a liquid without colour, smell or
taste that falls as rain, is in lakes, rivers and seas, and is used for
drinking, washing, etc. A: a glass of water — If ;jc
0 drinking water tfc 7jc 0 water pollution 7jc t§ ^ o
clean/dirty water /|}ft ;K 0 water
shortages 7jc 0
There is hot and cold running water in all the
bedrooms.
AAo
—see also bathwater 2 [U]
an area of water, especially a lake, river, sea or ocean AJfrWA; A^; (Ale)'/!, M> 'M: We
walked down to the water’s edge. $cfBI AftA1] 7jc A 0
0 She fell into the water. » o shallow/deep
water A M 0 In the lagoon the water was calm.
—see
also backwater(I), breakwater 3 waters [pi.] the water in a
particular lake, river, sea or ocean ( ^—■) tKM: the grey waters of the River
This species is found in coastal waters around
the
surface of a mass of water (
— jf ) 7JC ffi: She dived
under the water. M j^ A tK T
o, 0 The leaves floated on the water, uf ^ tK M ± 0 — see also underwater 5 waters [pi.] an area of sea
or ocean belonging to a particular country ( We
were
still in British waters. 0 fishing
in international waters A HI ^ it ffl A — see also territorial waters 6 waters [pi ] murky,
uncharted, stormy, dangerous, etc. ~ used to describe a situation, usually
one that is difficult, dangerous or not familiar JEW® ( mm, )
M: The conversa
tion got into the murky
waters of jealousy and reZarion- ships. AMMo
o The government has warned of stormy waters ahead. M
,
bUsWMttff ilfeo mT2 There are many other compounds
ending in water. You will find them at their place in the alphabet. Ill
water M %'aM
lEEjby
water (formal) using a boat or ship % ; hi 7jc {& it’s
(all) water under the bridge used to say that sth
happened in the past and is now forgotten or no longer important like ’water (informal) in
large quantities A Mitb: He
spends money like water, fib W% AHo not hold 'water (informal) if
an argument, an excuse, a theory, etc. does not hold water, you cannot
believe it ( f^P, Jlifc# ) A
sb’s 'waters break when a pregnant
woman’s waters break, the liquid in her womb
passes out of her body just before the baby is born A" AM ( )
(like) water off a .duck’s
'back (informal) used
to say that sth, especially criticism, has no effect on sb/sth ( ft ) tKMII#:
I can’t tell my son what to do;
it’s water off a duck’s
back with him. $UL A
tfkfkft"%,
fibfSAn/fAEAo — more at blood n.,
blow v., cold adj., dead adj., deep adj., dip v., duck n.,
FISH
/?., HEAD n., HELL, HORSE n., HOT
adj., PASS V., POUR, STILL adj., TEST
V., TREAD V.
■ verb 1 [VN] to pour water on
plants, etc. -$gA; ?H M: to water the plants/garden I 2 [V]
(of the eyes 0g0f) to become full of tears : The
smoke made my eyes water. 3 [V] (of
the mouth uf) to produce saliva M p tK : The smells from the kitchen made our mouths water,
if A M (ft # ^ P Ao 4 [VN] to give water to an
animal to drink *£---7jtni§; tfc ( g/j)
: to water the horses o (humorous) After a tour of the
grounds, the guests were fed and watered. ^ACl
tS0 5 [VN] [usually
passive] (technical Ai«) (of a river, etc. M'MC^f) to provide an
area of land with water in
( )
f^7jC: The valley is watered by a stream. j&iJL|