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watchman

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.

(Science: zoology) Watchman beetle, 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, or 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.