watch out

verb

watched out; watching out; watches out

intransitive verb

: to be vigilant or alert : be on the lookout
you'd better watch out
watch out for the tree!

Synonyms of watch out

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of watch out in a Sentence

watch out for hazards in the road
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Grab your fedora and watch out for snakes as EW ranks all five Indiana Jones movies. — Frank Deruggiero, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Sep. 2026 And look towards the horizon, forget countries and watch out for rebels… or learn about all that in the trailer. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2026 What to watch out for In my patients, especially kids, my goal is to make sure their vision is clear and their eyes are working together to achieve depth perception. — Abigail Witmer, The Conversation, 31 Aug. 2026 Continue reading … SKY-HIGH RIVALRY – Sydney Sweeney tells Tom Cruise to 'watch out' after strapping herself to top of airplane. — FOXNews.com, 25 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for watch out

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of watch out was in 1845

Rhymes for watch out

See All Rhymes for watch out

Browse Nearby Words

watch oneself
watch out
watch over
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Watch out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/watch%20out. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

watch out

verb
: to be on the lookout
watch out for cars
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of apiary

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All