observe
to see, watch, perceive, or notice: He observed the passersby in the street.
to regard with attention, especially so as to see or learn something: I want you to observe her reaction to the judge's question.
to watch, view, or note for a scientific, official, or other special purpose: to observe an eclipse.
to state by way of comment; remark: He observed frequently that clerks were not as courteous as they used to be.
to keep or maintain in one's action, conduct, etc.:You must observe quiet.
to obey, comply with, or conform to: to observe laws.
to show regard for by some appropriate procedure, ceremony, etc.: to observe Palm Sunday.
to perform duly or solemnize (ceremonies, rites, etc.).
to note or inspect closely for an omen or sign of future events.
to notice.
to act as an observer.
to remark or comment (usually followed by on or upon).
Origin of observe
1synonym study For observe
Other words for observe
Opposites for observe
Other words from observe
- ob·serv·ed·ly [uhb-zur-vid-lee], /əbˈzɜr vɪd li/, adverb
- ob·serv·ing·ly, adverb
- non·ob·serv·ing, adjective
- non·ob·serv·ing·ly, adverb
- pre·ob·serve, verb (used with object), pre·ob·served, pre·ob·serv·ing.
- qua·si-ob·served, adjective
- re·ob·serve, verb, re·ob·served, re·ob·serv·ing.
- self-ob·served, adjective
- un·ob·served, adjective
- un·ob·serv·ing, adjective
- well-ob·served, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use observe in a sentence
Rearing butterflies and moths in classrooms, or simply observing these insects outside, gives students the opportunity for a hands-on learning experience.
Insects can be the ultimate teaching tool for kids | By Kawahara, Ennes & Markee/The Conversation | November 20, 2020 | Popular-ScienceBecause colugos were abundant and easy to find and observe in Langkawi, Miard pivoted to study them.
On a cool night in Malaysia, scientists track mysterious colugos across the treetops | Yao-Hua Law | November 20, 2020 | Science NewsIt’s full of alarming revelations about the “chaos” Bolton observed, about which many said he should have spoken out sooner.
From what my friend and I observed that stunning September weekend—a wash of gold extending over entire mountainsides, an infinity of leaves, untold groves blending and blurring to yonder horizon—I’m pretty well sold.
This can be shown by simply squaring every possible units digit and observing the possible results.
Some Math Problems Seem Impossible. That Can Be a Good Thing. | Patrick Honner | November 18, 2020 | Quanta Magazine
He was a dreamer, an idealist, grounded in the reality he observed around him.
“The four largest banks are nearly 40 percent bigger today than they were just five years ago,” she observed.
“You have to be slightly innocent to be a novelist,” Martin Amis has observed.
Mailer’s Letters Pack a Punch and a Surprising Degree of Sweetness | Ronald K. Fried | December 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThey possessed “wisdom beyond their years,” observed The Advocate.
The Rise and Fall of Chris Hughes and Sean Eldridge, America’s Worst Gay Power Couple | James Kirchick | December 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe observed that they “seem to cut their characters out with hatchets and to color them with the brushes of house-painters.”
She observed his pale looks, and the distracted wandering of his eyes; but she would not notice either.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterIn the meantime, the outlaw, having observed how much more cordially the tyrant is received than himself, has made his exit.
Physiology of The Opera | John H. Swaby (AKA "Scrici")One evening, while he was thus engaged, he observed de Patinos and Duke Wharton enter together.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterIn truth, it was so intently engaged with a sleeping seal that it had not observed the approach of the sledge.
The Giant of the North | R.M. BallantyneThat the weather being calm, he rowed round me several times, observed my windows and wire-lattices that defenced them.
Gulliver's Travels | Jonathan Swift
British Dictionary definitions for observe
/ (əbˈzɜːv) /
(tr; may take a clause as object) to see; perceive; notice: we have observed that you steal
(when tr, may take a clause as object) to watch (something) carefully; pay attention to (something)
to make observations of (something), esp scientific ones
(when intr, usually foll by on or upon; when tr, may take a clause as object) to make a comment or remark: the speaker observed that times had changed
(tr) to abide by, keep, or follow (a custom, tradition, law, holiday, etc)
Origin of observe
1Derived forms of observe
- observable, adjective
- observableness or observability, noun
- observably, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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