Watch"man (?), n.; pl. Watchmen ().
1.
One set to watch; a person who keeps guard; a guard; a sentinel.
2.
Specifically, one who guards a building, or the streets of a city, by night.
Watchman beetle Zool., the European dor. -- Watchman's clock, a watchman's detector in which the apparatus for recording the times of visiting several stations is contained within a single clock. -- Watchman's detector, ∨ Watchman's time detector, an apparatus for recording the time when a watchman visits a station on his rounds. -- Watchman's rattle, an instrument having at the end of a handle a revolving arm, which, by the action of a strong spring upon cogs, produces, when in motion, a loud, harsh, rattling sound.
© Webster 1913.