Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WATCH, v.t.

1. To guard; to have in keeping. Flaming ministers watch and tend their charge. – Milton.
2. To observe in ambush; to lie in wait for. Saul also sent messengers to David's house to watch him, and to slay him. 1 Sam. xix.
3. To tend; to guard. Paris watched the flocks in the groves of Ida. – Broome.
4. To observe in order to detect or prevent, or for some particular purpose; as, to watch a suspected person; to watch the progress of a bill in the legislature.