OBSERVE
WORD OF THE WEEK
observe ( observar )
verb ob·serve \əb-ˈzərv\
: to watch and sometimes also listen to (someone or something) carefully
: to see and notice (someone or something)
: to make a comment about something you notice
FULL DEFINITION OF OBSERVE
transitive verb
1: to conform one's action or practice to (as a law, rite, or condition) : comply with
2: to inspect or take note of as an augury, omen, or presage
3: to celebrate or solemnize (as a ceremony or festival) in a customary or accepted way
4a : to watch carefully especially with attention to details or behavior for the purpose of arriving at a judgment
5: to come to realize or know especially through consideration of noted facts
6: to utter as a remark
intransitive verb
1a : to take notice
b : to make observations : watch
EXAMPLES OF OBSERVE
- The class will be observing the movements of fish.
- The patient must be observed constantly.
- Children learn by observing their parents and others.
- The new teacher will give the lesson today and the principal will observe.
- We observed a large flock of birds heading north.
- He observed two children playing with marbles on the street corner.
- She observed that every man in the room had removed his hat.
- Few cases of the disease have been observed in humans.
RELATED TO OBSERVE
Antonyms defy, disobey, rebel (against)
Related Words defer (to), submit (to), surrender (to), yield (to); accede (to),acquiesce (to), agree (to), assent (to); attend, hear, heed, listen (to),mark, note, notice, regard, take, watch
Near Antonyms disoblige; challenge, dare; refuse, renounce, repudiate; direct, lead;brush off, disregard, ignore, overlook, overpass, pass over, tune out,wink (at); dismiss, pooh-pooh (also pooh), shrug off; breach, break,infringe, transgress, violate; deride, flout, mock, scoff (at), scorn;mutiny (against), revolt (against); buck, combat, contest, dispute,fight, oppose, resist, withstand