watch one's back

: to keep vigil as a devotional exercise

: to be awake during the night

: to be attentive or vigilant

: the act of keeping awake to guard, protect, or attend

: the state of being wakeful

: a wake over a dead body

: the rear part of the human body especially from the neck to the end of the spine

: the body considered as the wearer of clothes

: capacity for labor, effort, or endurance

: to, toward, or at the rear

: in or into the past : backward in time

: to or at an angle off the vertical

: being at or in the back

: distant from a central or main area

: articulated at or toward the back of the oral passage : formed deep within the mouth

: to support by material or moral assistance

: substantiate

: to assume financial responsibility for