watch the world go by
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English
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[edit]Verb
[edit]watch the world go by (third-person singular simple present watches the world go by, present participle watching the world go by, simple past and past participle watched the world go by)
- (UK, idiomatic) To pause and remain still whilst doing nothing but surveying the environment around oneself.
- I think I'll just sit under this tree and watch the world go by.
- 2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 75:
- Watching the world go by is so much fun that I have to tear myself away to catch my next service - LNER's 'Highland Chieftain' worked by a bi-mode Class 800 Azuma, [...].