Meaning & use
under observation
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
Being watched closely over a period of time, especially to see how a health condition develops or to check that nothing goes wrong.
Grammar: Follows be, keep, put or remain: the patient is under observation.
Patterns
- be under observation
- keep someone under observation
- put someone under observation
The boy was kept under observation overnight after hitting his head.
She will stay under observation until the doctors are sure the medicine is working.
The newborn was put under observation because of her slow breathing.
phrasefixed phrase
Being secretly or openly watched by people, such as police or researchers, in order to learn what someone does.
Grammar: Often passive in feel: the suspect has been under observation for weeks.
Patterns
- be under observation by someone
- keep something under observation
The house had been under observation for several days before the police entered.
The chimpanzees live under observation, so the scientists can record their habits.
Volcanologists keep the crater under observation around the clock.
Common combinations
- kept under observation
- He was kept under observation for twenty-four hours.
- remain under observation
- The patient will remain under observation until Friday.
- placed under observation
- The suspect was placed under observation by detectives.
- under close observation
- The volcano is under close observation by geologists.
- under observation in hospital
- She spent the night under observation in hospital.
Synonyms and how they differ
- under surveillance
- This stresses watching for security or crime, so it sounds odd for a patient who is simply being monitored.
- being monitored
- This is less fixed and works for machines and data as well as people, while under observation sounds more medical or scientific.
- under supervision
- This means someone is in charge and directing activity, whereas under observation only means being watched.
Opposites
Word family
- observe verb
- to watch carefully or to notice
- observation noun
- the act of watching, or a remark about what you noticed
- observant adjective
- good at noticing things
- observer noun
- a person who watches or monitors events
Commonly confused: under observation or under observance?
under observation vs under observance
Observance means obeying a rule or keeping a custom, so it is not used for watching a patient.
Practice
After the fall, the doctors decided to keep her ___ overnight in case she developed symptoms.
Choose one answer.
Under observation is the fixed phrase for being watched closely. In observation of and on observance are not used this way, and by observation does not fit after keep.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “under observation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.