Abide and Watch

Abide

Abide verb - To continue to be in a place for a significant amount of time.

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Watch and abide are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Watch" instead a verb "Abide".

Nearby Words: abiding, abidance

Watch verb - To keep one's eyes on.

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Abide and watch are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Abide" instead a verb "Watch".

Nearby Words: watchful, watched, watcher, watching

Primary obsessed with control, The Dictator is prone to making up new rules whenever it suits him, purely to watch people struggle to abide by them and punish people for breaking them.

Source: Master Character Heroes
The trope is deconstructed when Shao Kahn refuses to abide by the rules and just invades Earth by force of arms, while the Elder Gods just watch, and it's mentioned that "this time, there are no rules." Then the Elder Gods call a tournament when Liu Kang and Shao Kahn face off.

Source: Film / Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

Cite this Source

Watch and Abide. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/abide/watch

Abide & Watch. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/abide/watch>.

Watch or Abide. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/abide/watch.

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "abide" and "watch" have occurred on timeline