lookout man
1
5.1
- noun
- /ˈlʊkˌaʊt mæn/
:
vigía
- The beggar was the lookout man for the gang.
Examples
-
If they had continued on, they would have been caught between their quarry and a lookout man.
Fiction book (2001) -
He was being the lookout man.
Fiction book (1990) -
Simms, you're my lookout man.
-
The lookout man alerted the group as soon as he spotted the approaching police car.
-
During the heist, the lookout man monitored the street to ensure no one was watching.
-
As the lookout man, he was responsible for signaling his teammates when it was safe to move.
Synonyms
210
1.3
A person who watches and protects a building or people to stop stealing and trouble
89
3.9
A person who watches a place or people to keep them safe
88
3.7
A person who watches and warns others about danger
31
7.4
A person who watches a place to warn others of danger
28
4.1
A person who guards a building or land, usually at night
26
6.0
A soldier who stands watch to guard a place
21
4.4
A person who watches closely and reports storms, dangers, or animal sightings
11
3.2
A person who guards a place at night
4
3.6
A person who checks an area regularly to keep it safe
1
7.4
A soldier who goes in front of a group to look for danger
A woman who guards a building or area, often at night
A woman who watches for danger or police and warns others
A person who watches from a high building to spot danger
A person who watches a dock to stop theft and keep it safe
A person who patrols large areas like forests to spot hazards
A person who watches the streets at night to keep people safe
A person who looks for fires caused by enemy bombs during a war and reports them
How Watchful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is fully compositional: 'lookout' already denotes a person who watches and 'man' specifies an adult male, so a B1 learner knowing both words can readily infer 'a man whose job is to keep watch.' This follows regular English compounding patterns (modifier + head) and is cross-linguistically transparent, making the meaning immediately understandable from the constituents.
Etymology
The noun lookout man comes from the clear image of a person who stands in a high or hidden place to watch for danger. The lookout 'keeps watch' and the man 'alerts' others, so the phrase means 'a man whose job is to keep watch and warn people about danger'.