OBSERVE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Observe

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/əbzˈərv/ Listen

verb

Observe v. t. (past & past part. observed; pres. part. observing)

To take notice of by appropriate conduct; to conform one's action or practice to; to keep; to heed; to obey; to comply with; as, to observe rules or commands; to observe civility. "Ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread." "He wolde no such cursedness observe." "Must I budge? Must I observe you?" "With solemn purpose to observe Immutably his sovereign will."

To be on the watch respecting; to pay attention to; to notice with care; to see; to perceive; to notice; to discover; as, to observe an eclipse; to observe the color or fashion of a dress; to observe the movements of an army; to observe an accident.

To express as what has been noticed; to utter as a remark; to say in a casual or incidental way; to remark.

Observe v. i.

To take notice; to give attention to what one sees or hears; to attend.

To make a remark; to comment; to make an observation (3); generally with on or upon. "I have barely quoted... without observing upon it."

Synonyms: To remark. See Remark.

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Etymology of 'Observe'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Observe" Quotes from Famous Books

... opened in May, 1829, and in the following month, after very careful examination, six candidates for baptism were selected from among the inquirers. Speaking of these converts Robert Moffat said, "It was truly gratifying to observe the simplicity of their faith, implicitly relying on the atonement of Christ, of which they appeared to have a very clear conception, considering the previous darkness of their minds on ...

— Robert Moffat - The Missionary Hero of Kuruman • David J. Deane

... public offices, and of adjusting them to a Parliamentary head. There ought to be on record skilled evidence on the subject before a person without any specific experience can to any purpose think about it. But I may observe that the plan which Mr. Wilson suggested is that followed in the most successful part of our administration, the "Ways and Means" part. When the Chancellor of the Exchequer prepares a budget, he requires from the responsible heads of the revenue department ...

— The English Constitution • Walter Bagehot

... cynicism and apparent indifference, was all watchfulness. He knew that, for the present, any attempt to escape was hopeless, but he wished to observe the country through which he was passing, and see everything pertaining to it as far as the eye could reach. It was always well to know where one was, and he had been taught from infancy to observe everything, the practice being one of the important conditions of life ...

— The Rulers of the Lakes - A Story of George and Champlain • Joseph A. Altsheler

... I will only observe that from the first moments of the trial one peculiar characteristic of the case was conspicuous and observed by all, that is, the overwhelming strength of the prosecution as compared with the arguments the defense had ...

— The Brothers Karamazov • Fyodor Dostoyevsky

... with people who still remained in their Boston houses provisionally, and seemed more than half absent. The Enderbys had been at the Shore for a fortnight, and the Lyndes were going to be a fortnight longer in Boston, yet, as Bessie made her friend observe, when Mary, ran in for lunch, or stopped for a moment on her way to the train, every few days, they were both of ...

— Henry James, Jr. • William Dean Howells

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