Definition

1. Noun:
   • A person who keeps a devotional vigil: Someone who stays awake, especially to watch over a sick person or a dead body.
   • A guard or sentinel: A person who keeps watch to protect something or to look out for danger.
   • A close observer: Someone who looks at or watches something attentively, such as an event, exhibition, or phenomenon.

Examples of Usage

• As a person keeping vigil:
  • The family took turns being the watcher by their grandfather's bedside.
• As a guard:
  • The watcher on the tower signaled the approach of the ship.
• As a close observer:
  • The art watcher spent hours studying the brushstrokes in the gallery.
  • The bird watcher identified a rare species through her binoculars.

Advanced Usage

• "A keen watcher of...": An attentive and knowledgeable observer of a particular subject or field.
  • He is a keen watcher of international politics.
• "Night watcher": A person who keeps watch during the night.
  • The night watcher patrolled the silent halls of the museum.

Variants and Related Words

• Watch (verb/noun): The act of observing or the period of keeping guard.
• Watchful (adjective): Being alert and observant.
• Watchman (noun): A person employed to look after an empty building or area, especially at night.

Synonyms

• Observer: A person who watches or notices something.
• Lookout: A person who keeps watch for danger.
• Spectator: A person who watches an event, show, or game.
• Viewer: A person who watches television or looks at something.

Related Phrases

• "A watcher in the wings": Someone who observes a situation closely, often waiting for an opportunity to act.
  • As the debate continued, several potential candidates were watchers in the wings.

Related Idioms

• "The watchers of the sky": A poetic or descriptive term for astronomers or astrologers.
  • The ancient watchers of the sky mapped the constellations.

Noun

1. a person who keeps a devotional vigil by a sick bed or by a dead body
2. a guard who keeps watch
3. a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)
   • the spectators applauded the performance
   • television viewers
   • sky watchers discovered a new star