Follow vs. Watch — What's the Difference?

Go or come after (a person or thing proceeding ahead); move or travel behind

A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities.

Come after in time or order

Look at or observe attentively over a period of time

Act according to (an instruction or precept)

Exercise care, caution, or restraint about

Pay close attention to

Remain awake for the purpose of religious observance

Practise (a trade or profession).

A small timepiece worn typically on a strap on one's wrist

To come or go after; proceed behind

An act or instance of carefully observing someone or something over a period of time

To go after in pursuit

A film or programme considered in terms of its appeal to the public

To keep under surveillance

A flock of nightingales

To move along the course of; take

To look or observe attentively or carefully; be closely observant

To move in the direction of; be guided by

To look and wait expectantly or in anticipation

To lie in the same path as

To act as a spectator; look on

To be parallel to

To stay awake at night while serving as a guard, sentinel, or watcher.

To accept the guidance, command, or leadership of

To stay alert as a devotional or religious exercise; keep vigil.

To adhere to; practice

To look at steadily; observe carefully or continuously

To take as a model or precedent; imitate

To guard, keep surveillance on, or spy on

To act in agreement or compliance with; obey

To observe the course of mentally; keep up on or informed about

To keep to or stick to

To pay close attention to or be careful about, especially with regard to propriety

To engage in (a trade or occupation); work at.

To tend or take care of (children or a flock of sheep, for example).

To come after in order, time, or position

A portable or wearable timepiece.

To bring something about at a later time than or as a consequence of

The act of guarding and observing someone or something.

To occur or be evident as a consequence of

A particular time period when guarding is kept.

To watch or observe closely

A period of wakefulness between the two sleeps of a biphasic sleep pattern (the dead sleep or first sleep and morning sleep or second sleep): the first waking.

To be attentive to; pay close heed to

A person or group of people who guard.

To keep oneself informed of the course, progress, or fortunes of

The post or office of a watchman; also, the place where a watchman is posted, or where a guard is kept.

To grasp the meaning or logic of; understand

(nautical) A group of sailors and officers aboard a ship or shore station with a common period of duty: starboard watch, port watch.

To come, move, or take place after another person or thing in order or time.

(nautical) A period of time on duty, usually four hours in length; the officers and crew who tend the working of a vessel during the same watch. (FM 55–501).

To occur or be evident as a consequence; result

The act of seeing, or viewing, for a period of time.

To grasp the meaning or reasoning of something; understand.

(ambitransitive) To look at, see, or view for a period of time.

(Games) A billiards shot in which the cue ball is struck above center so that it follows the path of the object ball after impact.

(transitive) To observe over a period of time; to notice or pay attention.

(ambitransitive) To go after; to pursue; to move behind in the same path or direction, especially with the intent of catching.

(transitive) To mind, attend, or guard.

(ambitransitive) To go or come after in a sequence.

(transitive) To be wary or cautious of.

(transitive) To carry out (orders, instructions, etc.).

(transitive) To attend to dangers to or regarding.

(transitive) To live one's life according to (religion, teachings, etc).

(intransitive) To remain awake with a sick or dying person; to maintain a vigil. en

(transitive) To understand, to pay attention to.

(intransitive) To be vigilant or on one's guard.

(transitive) To watch, to keep track of (reports of) some event or person.

(intransitive) To act as a lookout.

To subscribe to see content from an account on a social media platform.

To serve the purpose of a watchman by floating properly in its place.

(ambitransitive) To be a logical consequence of something.

To be awake.

(transitive) To walk in, as a road or course; to attend upon closely, as a profession or calling.

To be on the lookout for; to wait for expectantly.

In billiards and similar games, a stroke causing a ball to follow another ball after hitting it.

The act of watching; forbearance of sleep; vigil; wakeful, vigilant, or constantly observant attention; close observation; guard; preservative or preventive vigilance; formerly, a watching or guarding by night.

(social media) The act of following another user's online activity.

One who watches, or those who watch; a watchman, or a body of watchmen; a sentry; a guard.

To go or come after; to move behind in the same path or direction; hence, to go with (a leader, guide, etc.); to accompany; to attend.

The post or office of a watchman; also, the place where a watchman is posted, or where a guard is kept.

To endeavor to overtake; to go in pursuit of; to chase; to pursue; to prosecute.

The period of the night during which a person does duty as a sentinel, or guard; the time from the placing of a sentinel till his relief; hence, a division of the night.

To accept as authority; to adopt the opinions of; to obey; to yield to; to take as a rule of action; as, to follow good advice.

A small timepiece, or chronometer, to be carried about the person, the machinery of which is moved by a spring.

To copy after; to take as an example.

An allotted portion of time, usually four hour for standing watch, or being on deck ready for duty. Cf. Dogwatch.

To succeed in order of time, rank, or office.

To be awake; to be or continue without sleep; to wake; to keep vigil.

To result from, as an effect from a cause, or an inference from a premise.

To be attentive or vigilant; to give heed; to be on the lookout; to keep guard; to act as sentinel.

To watch, as a receding object; to keep the eyes fixed upon while in motion; to keep the mind upon while in progress, as a speech, musical performance, etc.; also, to keep up with; to understand the meaning, connection, or force of, as of a course of thought or argument.

To be expectant; to look with expectation; to wait; to seek opportunity.

To walk in, as a road or course; to attend upon closely, as a profession or calling.

To remain awake with any one as nurse or attendant; to attend on the sick during the night; as, to watch with a man in a fever.

To go or come after; - used in the various senses of the transitive verb: To pursue; to attend; to accompany; to be a result; to imitate.

To serve the purpose of a watchman by floating properly in its place; - said of a buoy.

The art or process of following; specif., in some games, as billiards, a stroke causing a ball to follow another ball after hitting it. Also used adjectively; as, follow shot.

To give heed to; to observe the actions or motions of, for any purpose; to keep in view; not to lose from sight and observation; as, to watch the progress of a bill in the legislature.

To travel behind, go after, come after;

To tend; to guard; to have in keeping.

Be later in time;

A small portable timepiece

Come as a logical consequence; follow logically;

A period of time (4 or 2 hours) during which some of a ship's crew are on duty

Travel along a certain course;

A purposeful surveillance to guard or observe

Act in accordance with someone's rules, commands, or wishes;

The period during which someone (especially a guard) is on duty

Come after in time, as a result;

A person employed to watch for something to happen

Behave in accordance or in agreement with;

A devotional watch (especially on the eve of a religious festival)

Be next;

Look attentively;

Choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans;

Follow with the eyes or the mind;

To bring something about at a later time than;

See or watch;

Imitate in behavior; take as a model;

Observe with attention;

Follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something;

Be vigilant, be on the lookout, be on one's guard, be careful;

Follow with the eyes or the mind;

Observe or determine by looking;

Be the successor (of);

Find out, learn, or determine with certainty, usually by making an inquiry or other effort;

Perform an accompaniment to;

Keep informed;

To be the product or result;

Accept and follow the leadership or command or guidance of;

Adhere to or practice;

Work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function;

Keep under surveillance;

Follow in or as if in pursuit;

Grasp the meaning;

Keep to;