# watch over

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/watch-over
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To guard and protect.

## Examples

- Can you watch over my bag while I buy coffee?
- The nurse promised to watch over the patient through the night and call if anything changed.
- Standing on the cliff's edge, the old lighthouse keeper had spent forty years watching over the treacherous waters, guiding ships safely home.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.