oversee

What it means

1. literallytransitiveTo survey, look at something in a wide angle.
2. figurativelytransitiveTo supervise, guide, review or direct the actions of a person or group.

   It is congress's duty to oversee the spending of federal funds.

   3 more examples

   And overseeing them all, like a raddled old good-ish fairy, is Bill Nighy, playing a superannuated rocker hoping to get a Christmas number one with his cynically repackaged version of Love Is All Around.

   2003 November 21, Peter Bradshaw, “Love Actually”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 06 Mar 2026

   Based at BTP's London headquarters, Russell's team of three full-timers in the drone unit are responsible for overseeing the safety of drones in support of police officers.

   2022 February 9, Tom Allett, “The BTP's eyes and ears in the air”, in RAIL, number 950, page 50

   Treasury could also ask why High Speed 2's finances are so adrift from what was promised. The answers will make for difficult DfT reading, because it can't escape the fact that it has been the government department overseeing rail spending for the past 20 years.

   2024 September 4, Philip Haigh, “Can public-private partnerships be made to deliver?”, in RAIL, number 1017, page 53

   Synonyms: superintend

3. transitiveTo inspect, examine.

   Gamekeepers oversee a hunting ground to see to the wildlife's welfare and look for poachers.

In a sentence

It is congress's duty to oversee the spending of federal funds.

Where it comes from

1. Old Englishofersēon“to observe, oversee; to overlook, neglect”
2. Middle Englishoverseen
3. Englishoversee

From Middle English overseen, ouverseen, from Old English ofersēon (“to observe, oversee; to overlook, neglect”), equivalent to over- + see.