Definition of "supervise"
supervise
verb
third-person singular simple present supervises, present participle supervising, simple past and past participle supervised
(transitive) To oversee or direct a task or organization.
Quotations
Strong personal government is, I believe, the only form of government possible in Kashmir for many years to come, but it is difficult for the Maharajas to supervise the administration of the valley when they are away in their winter capital Jammu.
1895, Sir Walter Roper Lawrence, The Valley of Kashmir, page 3
Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company
While both the Northeast and the Korean Peninsula were under the jurisdiction of Ho-pei Province, a Protectorate of An-tung was established at P'ing-jang to supervise the Peninsular states and two High Commanders were stationed at You-chou and P'ing-lu […]
1934, Tung Chi Lin, Chinese Expansion to the Northeast: Methods and Mechanisms, University of California, page 37
(transitive, obsolete) To look over so as to read; to peruse.
Quotations
If any Man for that reaſon has an Inclination to divert himſelf, and Sail with me round the Globe, to ſuperviſe almoſt all the Conditions of Humane Life, without being infected with the Vanities, and Vices that attend such a Whimſical Perambulation; let him follow me, who am going to Relate it in a Stile, and Language, proper to the Variety of the Subject: For as the Caprichio came Naturally into my Pericranium, I am reſolv’d to purſue it through Thick and Thin, to enlarge my Capacity for a Man of Buſineſs.
1700, Tom Brown, Amusements Serious and Comical, calculated for the Meridian of London, page 10