Watch vs Sight - What's the difference?
watch | sight | Related terms |
A portable or wearable timepiece.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2
, passage=Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.
The act of guarding and observing someone or something.
* Milton
* Addison
A particular time period when guarding is kept.
* Shakespeare
* Milton
A person or group of people who guard.
* Bible, Matthew xxvii. 65
The post or office of a watchman; also, the place where a watchman is posted, or where a guard is kept.
* Shakespeare
(nautical) A group of sailors and officers aboard a ship or shore station with a common period of duty: starboard watch'', ''port watch .
(nautical) A period of time on duty, usually four hours in length; the officers and crew who tend the working of a vessel during the same watch. (FM 55–501).
The act of seeing, or viewing, for a period of time.
* 2004 , Charles P. Nemeth, Criminal law
(label) To look at, see, or view for a period of time.
* , chapter=10
, title= (label) To observe over a period of time; to notice or pay attention.
(label) To mind, attend, or guard.
*{{quote-book, year=1899, author=(Stephen Crane)
, title=, chapter=1
, passage=[…] (it was the town's humour to be always gassing of phantom investors who were likely to come any moment and pay a thousand prices for everything) — “[…] Them rich fellers, they don't make no bad breaks with their money. They watch it all th' time b'cause they know blame well there ain't hardly room fer their feet fer th' pikers an' tin-horns an' thimble-riggers what are layin' fer 'em. […]”}}
(label) To be wary or cautious of.
(label) To attend to dangers to or regarding.
(label) To remain awake with a sick or dying person; to maintain a vigil.
(label) To be vigilant or on one's guard.
(label) To act as a lookout.
To serve the purpose of a watchman by floating properly in its place.
To be awake.
* 1485 , (Thomas Malory), (w, Le Morte d'Arthur) , Book X:
(in the singular) The ability to see.
* Shakespeare
* Milton
The act of seeing; perception of objects by the eye; view.
* Bible, Acts i. 9
Something seen.
* 2005 , Lesley Brown (translator), :
* He's a really remarkable man and it's very hard to get him in one's sights ;
Something worth seeing; a spectacle.
* Bible, Exodus iii. 3
* Spenser
A device used in aiming a projectile, through which the person aiming looks at the intended target.
A small aperture through which objects are to be seen, and by which their direction is settled or ascertained.
* Shakespeare
a great deal, a lot; (frequently used to intensify a comparative).
* Gower
* 1913 ,
In a drawing, picture, etc., that part of the surface, as of paper or canvas, which is within the frame or the border or margin. In a frame, the open space, the opening.
(obsolete) The instrument of seeing; the eye.
* Shakespeare
Mental view; opinion; judgment.
* Bible, Luke xvi. 15
To register visually.
To get sight of (something).
* , chapter=4
, title= To apply sights to; to adjust the sights of; also, to give the proper elevation and direction to by means of a sight.
To take aim at.
In transitive terms the difference between watch and sight
is that watch is to attend to dangers to or regarding while sight is to take aim at.watch
English
(wikipedia watch)Etymology 1
As a noun, from (etyl) wacche, from (etyl) . See below for verb form.Noun
(es)- More people today carry a watch on their wrists than in their pockets.
- shepherds keeping watch by night
- All the long night their mournful watch they keep.
- The second watch of the night began at midnight.
- I did stand my watch upon the hill.
- Might we but hear / Or whistle from the lodge, or village cock / Count the night watches to his feathery dames.
- The watch stopped the travelers at the city gates.
- Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch ; go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
- He upbraids Iago, that he made him / Brave me upon the watch .
- A quick watch of Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange sends this reality home fast. Amoral, vacuous, cold-blooded, unsympathetic, and chillingly evil describe only parts of the story.
Derived terms
* hurricane watch * on one's watch * on the watch * pocket watch * stand watch * stopwatch * tornado watch * wristwatchEtymology 2
As a verb, from (etyl) wacchen, from (etyl) .Verb
(es)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.}}
- So on the morne Sir Trystram, Sir Gareth and Sir Dynadan arose early and went unto Sir Palomydes chambir, and there they founde hym faste aslepe, for he had all nyght wacched [...].
Usage notes
* When used transitively to mean look at something, there is an implication that the direct object is something which is capable of changing.Antonyms
* ignoreDerived terms
* clock-watcher * watch it * watch like a hawk * watch the pennies * watch this space * watchman * watchtowerSee also
* wait * wake 1000 English basic wordssight
English
Noun
- Thy sight is young, / And thou shalt read when mine begin to dazzle.
- O loss of sight , of thee I most complain!
- to gain sight of land
- A cloud received him out of their sight .
- You really look a sight in that silly costume!
- Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight , why the bush is not burnt.
- They never saw a sight so fair.
- the sight of a quadrant
- their eyes of fire sparking through sights of steel
- a sight of money
- This is a darn sight better than what I'm used to at home!
- a wonder sight of flowers
- "If your mother put you in the pit at twelve, it's no reason why I should do the same with my lad."
- "Twelve! It wor a sight afore that!"
- Why cloud they not their sights ?
- In their sight it was harmless.
- (Wake)
- That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
Synonyms
* (ability to see) sense of sight, vision * (something seen) view * (aiming device) scope, peep sightDerived terms
* sight for sore eyes * far-sighted * in sight * insight * long-sighted * near-sighted * not a pretty sight * at sight * on sight * out of sight * * outsight * second sight * short-sighted * sight cheque * sight draft * sight for sore eyes * sight gag * sight rhyme * sight unseenVerb
(en verb)Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=I was on my way to the door, but all at once, through the fog in my head, I began to sight one reef that I hadn't paid any attention to afore.}}