collocations.org

Collocations for watch - noun

1. instrument for telling the time

ADJECTIVE

digital
analogue/analog, mechanical (esp. AmE)
pocket, wrist (usually wristwatch)
sports
designer
antique
quartz
diamond, gold, silver

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VERB + watch

check, consult, glance at, look at
reset, set
Don't forget to set your watch to local time.
synchronize
Let's synchronize our watches.
wind
Quartz watches don't need winding.
have on, wear
put on
take off

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watch + VERB

go, work
My watch is ten years old and it's still going.
stop
Sorry I'm late—my watch has stopped.
be slow, lose sth
My watch loses a minute each day.
be fast, gain sth
read sth (esp. AmE), say sth, show sth
My watch says three o'clock.
beep
Her wrist watch beeped.

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watch + NOUN

face
band (usually watchband), strap (BrE)
battery

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2. guard

ADJECTIVE

careful, close, vigilant (esp. BrE)
I kept a close watch on my bag as I sat on the train.
They kept a vigilant watch for the enemy.
constant
night
flood, hurricane (esp. AmE), storm, tornado (esp. AmE)
We have tornado watches in effect for a lot of Florida.
suicide
prisoners on suicide watch
neighbourhood/neighborhood

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VERB + watch

keep, stand
Two soldiers were ordered to keep watch for enemy aircraft.
put
The garrison commander had put an extra watch on the prisoners.
post
That night they posted watches.
maintain
The authorities maintained a careful watch over the establishment.
issue (AmE)
They're in charge of issuing the tornado watches.

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watch + NOUN

committee
tower
list (AmE)
the terrorist watch list

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PREPOSITION

on watch
Some of the crew were sleeping, while others were on watch.
on the watch for
Cats are constantly on the watch for mice or other small mammals.

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PHRASES

keep watch over sb/sth, stand watch over sb/sth
She keeps watch over the inmates.

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Collocations for watch - verb

ADVERB

carefully, closely
She watched the man closely to see where he would go.
attentively, avidly, eagerly, expectantly, intensely (esp. AmE), intently
curiously
I could see Robby watching curiously.
absently, idly, lazily
calmly, impassively, numbly, passively
patiently
I spent hours patiently watching the eagles.
anxiously, apprehensively, helplessly, nervously, warily
She watched helplessly as her husband was dragged away.
open-mouthed
enviously
He leant in and kissed her as I watched enviously.
amusedly (AmE), in amusement, with amusement
covertly, secretly
in silence, quietly, silently
just, merely, simply
I love just watching the world go by.
religiously
My father religiously watched the show every Friday night.

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VERB + watch

could only
They could only watch in silence as their possessions were taken away.
continue to
pause to, stay to, stop to
They stopped to watch the procession go by.
let sb
He let me watch while he assembled the model.

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PREPOSITION

for
We watched for any sign of change in the weather.
from
They watched from an upstairs window.
in
She watched in astonishment as he smashed the machine to pieces.
over
Maria asked Amelia to watch over her daughter.
with
He watched with great interest how she coaxed the animals inside.

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PHRASES

sit and watch, stand and watch
She stood and watched them walk off down the road.
watch and wait
He couldn't get in touch with her, so he would just have to watch and wait.
widely watched
the most widely watched national news bulletins in the country

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Watch is used with these nouns as the subject:
eye, fan, tongue, viewer

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Watch is used with these nouns as the object:
baseball, basketball, broadcast, calorie, cartoon, channel, clip, clock, collapse, commercial, concert, coverage, credit, cricket, crowd, dawn, demonstration, destruction, disc, display, documentary, drama, DVD, edition, end, episode, execution, exit, expression, fight, figure, film, firework, football, game, golf, headline, hockey, intake, kid, language, match, movement, movie, news, parade, performance, play, programme, progress, recording, reflection, replay, rugby, scene, scenery, screen, sheep, show, sky, soap opera, soccer, spectacle, sunset, tape, television, tennis, thriller, traffic, trailer, video, videotape, waistline, weight

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