watchperson

plural watchpersons · plural watchpeople

1. One set to watch.

   The first syllable, ko, can mean "to take turns;" the second syllable, ban, means "watchperson" or "guard."

   1988 February 16, Katherine Bishop, “Latest Japanese Import Goes on Patrol”, in The New York Times

   5 more examples

   The Marxists had called a strike to demand withdrawal of police and industrial security forces who had replaced regular watchpeople at the state-owned steel plant.

   1970 September 26, Renee Blakkan, compiler, “World in Revolution”, in Guardian: Independent Radical Newsweekly, volume 22, number 48, New York, N.Y.: Weekly Guardian Associates, Inc., →ISSN, page 10

   If we consider it an opportunity, we can try to devise ways of breaking into speech departments with well-trained linguists who will serve as watchpersons against a sudden laying-on-of-hands.

   1974, Roger W[ellington] Shuy, “Breaking into and out of linguistics”, in Francis P[atrick] Dinneen, editor, Linguistics: Teaching and Interdisciplinary Relations (Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 1974), Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, →ISBN, page 150

   Enraged at the number of non-seniors occupying this prized space, a group of these graduating seniors decided to form a Senior Patrol. These dedicated watchpeople wear a green armband bearing the initials SP.

   1978 October 18, Steve Kaufman, “Ramblings”, in J[ohn] Hart Clinton, editor, The Post, North County edition, volume 32, number 42, San Mateo, Calif.: Amphlett Printing Company, →OCLC, page 3, column 2

   It was considered that a motivated and involved public would play an active role as ‘watchpeople’, protecting the many imminently endangered archaeological sites around the country.

   2023, Einat Ambar-Armon, “A New Approach to Community Archaeology in the Israel Antiquities Authority: A View from the Northern Region”, in Rick Bonnie, Marta Lorenzon, Suzie Thomas, editors, Living Communities and Their Archaeologies in the Middle East, Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, →ISBN, section II (Communities: Shared Narratives and Engagement?), page 95

   Deploying watchpersons takes them away from other work, so NR has been looking at how to use technology in their place.

   2026 September 2, Philip Haigh, “Network Rail looks for track buckling solutions”, in RAIL, number 1069, page 25

   Synonyms: watcher