"observe" meaning in English

See observe in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /əbˈzɜːv/ [UK], /əbˈzɝv/ [Canada, US] Audio: en-us-observe.ogg [US] Forms: observe [canonical], observes [third-person, singular], observed [past], observed [past, participle], observing [present, participle]
enPR: əb-zûrvʹ [Canada, US] Head templates: {{verb|observ|e}} [POS TABLE]
  1. If you observe something, you see or notice it.
    Sense id: simple-observe-en-verb-9BWNWy54
  2. If you observe something, you watch it carefully.
    Sense id: simple-observe-en-verb-UhcbTOW1
  3. If you observe something, usually a fact, you say or write it.
    Sense id: simple-observe-en-verb-WM230n18 Categories (other): Formal
  4. If you observe a law or agreement, you follow it.
    Sense id: simple-observe-en-verb-7Mkx6UKJ
  5. If you observe a special day, you do the traditional things that are done on that day, especially in a religion.
    Sense id: simple-observe-en-verb-2zFKbvzb
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "observe",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "observes",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "observed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "observed",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "observing",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "observ",
        "2": "e"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": "ob‧serve",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "No problem behavior was observed among these students."
        },
        {
          "text": "My goal is to record what I observe during one session."
        },
        {
          "text": "A similar pattern was also observed in the posttest data."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you observe something, you see or notice it."
      ],
      "id": "simple-observe-en-verb-9BWNWy54",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The moon is really too bright to observe through a telescope."
        },
        {
          "text": "He spent hours closely observing the weather and making careful notes."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you observe something, you watch it carefully."
      ],
      "id": "simple-observe-en-verb-UhcbTOW1",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Formal",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "When we were talking, he also observed that some new problems had come up."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you observe something, usually a fact, you say or write it."
      ],
      "id": "simple-observe-en-verb-WM230n18",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive",
        "formal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Israel agreed to start moving out of West Bank towns if the Palestinians observed a cease-fire."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you observe a law or agreement, you follow it."
      ],
      "id": "simple-observe-en-verb-7Mkx6UKJ",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Some 1 billion people around the world will do something to observe the anniversary of the first Earth Day in 1970."
        },
        {
          "text": "At a tent city on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan, families observed the end of Ramadan by donating gifts to the earthquake survivors."
        },
        {
          "text": "The patient may be asked to observe some taboo, such as not having sex on a particular day."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you observe a special day, you do the traditional things that are done on that day, especially in a religion."
      ],
      "id": "simple-observe-en-verb-2zFKbvzb",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/əbˈzɜːv/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "enpr": "əb-zûrvʹ",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/əbˈzɝv/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-observe.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "observe"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "observe",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "observes",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "observed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "observed",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "observing",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "observ",
        "2": "e"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": "ob‧serve",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Intransitive verbs",
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "No problem behavior was observed among these students."
        },
        {
          "text": "My goal is to record what I observe during one session."
        },
        {
          "text": "A similar pattern was also observed in the posttest data."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you observe something, you see or notice it."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Intransitive verbs",
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The moon is really too bright to observe through a telescope."
        },
        {
          "text": "He spent hours closely observing the weather and making careful notes."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you observe something, you watch it carefully."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive & intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Formal",
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "When we were talking, he also observed that some new problems had come up."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you observe something, usually a fact, you say or write it."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive",
        "formal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Israel agreed to start moving out of West Bank towns if the Palestinians observed a cease-fire."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you observe a law or agreement, you follow it."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Some 1 billion people around the world will do something to observe the anniversary of the first Earth Day in 1970."
        },
        {
          "text": "At a tent city on the outskirts of Islamabad in Pakistan, families observed the end of Ramadan by donating gifts to the earthquake survivors."
        },
        {
          "text": "The patient may be asked to observe some taboo, such as not having sex on a particular day."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you observe a special day, you do the traditional things that are done on that day, especially in a religion."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/əbˈzɜːv/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "enpr": "əb-zûrvʹ",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/əbˈzɝv/",
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-observe.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "observe"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2024-12-20 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). 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.

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