Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One that watches or observes.
  • noun One who keeps vigil, as at a sick person's bedside.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who or that which watches.
  • noun One who keeps awake for the purpose of guarding or attending upon something or some one; a nurse, watch man, sentry, or the like.
  • noun One who observes: as, a watcher of the time.
  • noun A spy; one sent to watch an enemy.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who watches; one who sits up or continues; a diligent observer; specifically, one who attends upon the sick during the night.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun someone who watches or observes
  • noun someone who keeps vigil
  • noun a guard

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)
  • noun a guard who keeps watch
  • noun a person who keeps a devotional vigil by a sick bed or by a dead body

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

watch +‎ -er

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Examples

  • For every one of us who says actress or hostess or priestess, there is a word watcher, ready with Wite-Out and caret, who believes that, be they male or female, the correct words are actor, host, and priest.

    TalkTalk E. L. Konigsburg 1995

  • For every one of us who says actress or hostess or priestess, there is a word watcher, ready with Wite-Out and caret, who believes that, be they male or female, the correct words are actor, host, and priest.

    TalkTalk E. L. Konigsburg 1995

  • A watcher from the opposing team dragged her screaming away and was dropped like a steer by an ear-blow from a partisan from the woman's team.

    CHAPTER IV 2010

  • The market watcher is looking for tablet unit sales to total around 54.8 million next year and top 208 million in 2014.

    Gartner: Nearly 20 million tablets to be sold in 2010 Bob Brown 2010

  • My Mom, an avid (slightly obsessive?) bird watcher is turning 60 tomorrow!

    Frozen Eagle Trip Photos Anne-Marie 2008

  • What has baffled me for years now, as a confirmed Apple watcher, is how few people want to comment the Steve Jobs is at least as big a control freak as anyone at Microsoft, and probably bigger, since he has managed to consistently marginalize himself and his company.

    Will Steve Jobs Set Me Free? - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com 2008

  • The average clock-watcher is just that – AVERAGE – always knows exactly when to start packing it up so they can get out on time.

    Think Progress » Right-Wing Peanut Gallery Hits Miers Hard 2005

  • I've been a long term watcher, Stargate SG-1 as soon as it went to syndication and Atlantis from the beginning, and I've always kept my expectations for the show limited, but nowadays most episodes cause me physical pain.

    News From the Bizarro-verse and Other "Sacrifice" Thoughts Abigail Nussbaum 2006

  • A watcher from the opposing team dragged her screaming away and was dropped like a steer by an ear-blow from a partisan from the woman's team.

    Chapter 4 1913

  • But it was so real and so strange that I wondered if I were temporarily crazed, and as it disappeared I called a watcher from another room, and went out into the open air for a few moments to recover myself under the midnight stars.

    The Arena Volume 4, No. 21, August, 1891 Various 1888

Comments

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  • "You know, for someone who's got "Watcher" on his resume', you might want to cast an eye to the front door every now and again." - Spike to Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

    December 18, 2007

  • Watchers are beings who guard the portals that link the worlds together. In some Wicca/Witchcraft traditions they are viewed as a spiritual race, a set of deities, or as spirits of the four elements. The Watchers are associated with the four quarters of North, South, East and West. In some traditions the Watchers are associated with the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. They are also linked to each solstice and equinox, as well as to a specific star. North is Fomalhaut, the east is Aldebaran, the south is Regulus, and the west is Antares.

    _Raven Grimassi, Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft

    See also watchtower

    February 18, 2008