vigil

An instance of keeping awake during normal sleeping hours, especially to keep watch or pray.

• I saw her head drooped upon her hand; her whole attitude expressing that profound depression, whose lonely vigil wastes the midnight in a gloomy watch, which yet hopes for nothing at its close.
• Eventually the body trade grew so reckless that relatives took to holding graveside vigils, lest their loved ones disappear in the night.

A period of observation or surveillance at any hour.

• His dog kept vigil outside the hospital for eight days while he was recovering from an accident.

The eve of a religious festival in which staying awake is part of the ritual devotions.

A quiet demonstration in support of a cause.

• The protesters kept vigil outside the conference centre in which the party congress was being held.

To participate in a vigil.intransitive

• As the arrested painters and their supporters waited out their "day in court," other activists distributed Hiroshima information leaflets, vigiled silently with placards and banners, and marched 500-strong through downtown Boston to a rally