"overwatch" meaning in English

See overwatch in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Etymology: From over- + watch. Back-formation from watch over. Etymology templates: {{prefix|en|over|watch}} over- + watch, {{back-form|en|watch over}} Back-formation from watch over Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} overwatch (uncountable)
  1. (military) The supervision of one unit or vehicle by another while the supervised unit is firing or moving. Tags: uncountable Categories (topical): Military
    Sense id: en-overwatch-en-noun-jKilVmAV Categories (other): English back-formations, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English back-formations: 35 19 19 27 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 68 9 11 12 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 54 15 15 15 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 70 10 10 10 Topics: government, military, politics, war

Verb

Forms: overwatches [present, singular, third-person], overwatching [participle, present], overwatched [participle, past], overwatched [past]
Etymology: From over- + watch. Back-formation from watch over. Etymology templates: {{prefix|en|over|watch}} over- + watch, {{back-form|en|watch over}} Back-formation from watch over Head templates: {{en-verb}} overwatch (third-person singular simple present overwatches, present participle overwatching, simple past and past participle overwatched)
  1. (transitive) To watch over. Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-overwatch-en-verb-GNILhSkE Categories (other): English terms prefixed with over- Disambiguation of English terms prefixed with over-: 23 45 16 16
  2. (transitive) To watch excessively. Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-overwatch-en-verb-Onytr9Uh
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To overcome with long lack of rest. Tags: obsolete, transitive
    Sense id: en-overwatch-en-verb-zNnKHY8f

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "over",
        "3": "watch"
      },
      "expansion": "over- + watch",
      "name": "prefix"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "watch over"
      },
      "expansion": "Back-formation from watch over",
      "name": "back-form"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From over- + watch. Back-formation from watch over.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "overwatches",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "overwatching",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "overwatched",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "overwatched",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
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      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "23 45 16 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with over-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To watch over."
      ],
      "id": "en-overwatch-en-verb-GNILhSkE",
      "links": [
        [
          "watch over",
          "watch over"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To watch over."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "To watch excessively."
      ],
      "id": "en-overwatch-en-verb-Onytr9Uh",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To watch excessively."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "To overcome with long lack of rest."
      ],
      "id": "en-overwatch-en-verb-zNnKHY8f",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, obsolete) To overcome with long lack of rest."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "overwatch (military tactic)"
  ],
  "word": "overwatch"
}

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  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "over",
        "3": "watch"
      },
      "expansion": "over- + watch",
      "name": "prefix"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "watch over"
      },
      "expansion": "Back-formation from watch over",
      "name": "back-form"
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "From over- + watch. Back-formation from watch over.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
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      "expansion": "overwatch (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Military",
          "orig": "en:Military",
          "parents": [
            "Society",
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            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 19 19 27",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
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          "_dis": "68 9 11 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "54 15 15 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "70 10 10 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007 September 11, Michael R. Gordon, “Petraeus Sees Bigger Role in Protecting Iraqi Civilians”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "At a further and undefined point in the future, the American force would shrink to about seven and later five brigades — all involved in overwatch missions.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 June 17, Dan Sabbagh, “‘It’s 21st-century warfare’: on Ukraine’s counteroffensive frontline”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "“It’s 21st-century warfare,” says another team member, Doshch. And although some of the overwatch can be conducted remotely in bunkers, most of the drone teams (typically four-strong, they say) have to work about 1km behind the front.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The supervision of one unit or vehicle by another while the supervised unit is firing or moving."
      ],
      "id": "en-overwatch-en-noun-jKilVmAV",
      "links": [
        [
          "military",
          "military"
        ],
        [
          "supervision",
          "supervision"
        ],
        [
          "unit",
          "unit"
        ],
        [
          "vehicle",
          "vehicle"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(military) The supervision of one unit or vehicle by another while the supervised unit is firing or moving."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "military",
        "politics",
        "war"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "overwatch (military tactic)"
  ],
  "word": "overwatch"
}
{
  "categories": [
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    "English entries with incorrect language header",
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    "English uncountable nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
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  "etymology_templates": [
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        "3": "watch"
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      "name": "prefix"
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        "2": "watch over"
      },
      "expansion": "Back-formation from watch over",
      "name": "back-form"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From over- + watch. Back-formation from watch over.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "overwatches",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "overwatching",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "overwatched",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "overwatched",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "overwatch (third-person singular simple present overwatches, present participle overwatching, simple past and past participle overwatched)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To watch over."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "watch over",
          "watch over"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To watch over."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To watch excessively."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To watch excessively."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with obsolete senses",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To overcome with long lack of rest."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, obsolete) To overcome with long lack of rest."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "overwatch (military tactic)"
  ],
  "word": "overwatch"
}

{
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    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms prefixed with over-",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
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  ],
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      "name": "prefix"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "watch over"
      },
      "expansion": "Back-formation from watch over",
      "name": "back-form"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From over- + watch. Back-formation from watch over.",
  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "overwatch (uncountable)",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Military"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007 September 11, Michael R. Gordon, “Petraeus Sees Bigger Role in Protecting Iraqi Civilians”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "At a further and undefined point in the future, the American force would shrink to about seven and later five brigades — all involved in overwatch missions.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 June 17, Dan Sabbagh, “‘It’s 21st-century warfare’: on Ukraine’s counteroffensive frontline”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
          "text": "“It’s 21st-century warfare,” says another team member, Doshch. And although some of the overwatch can be conducted remotely in bunkers, most of the drone teams (typically four-strong, they say) have to work about 1km behind the front.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The supervision of one unit or vehicle by another while the supervised unit is firing or moving."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "military",
          "military"
        ],
        [
          "supervision",
          "supervision"
        ],
        [
          "unit",
          "unit"
        ],
        [
          "vehicle",
          "vehicle"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(military) The supervision of one unit or vehicle by another while the supervised unit is firing or moving."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "military",
        "politics",
        "war"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "overwatch (military tactic)"
  ],
  "word": "overwatch"
}

Download raw JSONL data for overwatch meaning in English (3.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.