WAIT

wait, waiting

(noun) the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something); “the wait was an ordeal for him”

delay, hold, time lag, postponement, wait

(noun) time during which some action is awaited; “instant replay caused too long a delay”; “he ordered a hold in the action”

expect, look, await, wait

(verb) look forward to the probable occurrence of; “We were expecting a visit from our relatives”; “She is looking to a promotion”; “he is waiting to be drafted”

wait, waitress

(verb) serve as a waiter or waitress in a restaurant; “I’m waiting on tables at Maxim’s”

wait

(verb) stay in one place and anticipate or expect something; “I had to wait on line for an hour to get the tickets”

wait, hold off, hold back

(verb) wait before acting; “the scientists held off announcing their results until they repeated the experiment”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Verb

wait (third-person singular simple present waits, present participle waiting, simple past and past participle waited)

(transitive, now, rare) To delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)

(intransitive) To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.

(intransitive, US) To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.

(transitive, obsolete) To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.

(obsolete) To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany.

(obsolete, colloquial) To defer or postpone (especially a meal).

(intransitive) To remain chaste while one's lover is unavailable.

Usage notes

• In sense 1, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• (delay until): await, wait for; See also wait for

• (delay until some event): hold one's breath; See also wait

• (serve customers): wait on, wait upon, serve

• (attend with ceremony or respect): bestand, serve, tend; See also serve

• (attend as a consequence): attend, escort, go with

• (defer or postpone): defer, postpone; See also procrastinate

• (remain celibate)

Noun

wait (plural waits)

A delay.

An ambush.

(obsolete) One who watches; a watchman.

(in the plural, obsolete, UK) Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.

(in the plural, UK) Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [formerly waites, wayghtes.]

Anagrams

• WTAI

Proper noun

Wait (plural Waits)

A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Wait is the 10145^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 3179 individuals. Wait is most common among White (94.31%) individuals.

Anagrams

• WTAI

Source: Wiktionary

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Wait, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Waited; p. pr. & vb. n. Waiting.] Etym: [OE. waiten, OF. waitier, gaitier, to watch, attend, F. guetter to watch, to wait for, fr. OHG. wahta a guard, watch, G. wacht, from OHG. wahhen to watch, be awake. *134. See Wake, v. i.]

1. To watch; to observe; to take notice. [Obs.] "But [unless] ye wait well and be privy, I wot right well, I am but dead," quoth she. Chaucer.

2. To stay or rest in expectation; to stop or remain stationary till the arrival of some person or event; to rest in patience; to stay; not to depart. All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Job xiv. 14. They also serve who only stand and wait. Milton. Haste, my dear father; 't is no time to wait. Dryden.

To wait on or upon. (a) To attend, as a servant; to perform services for; as, to wait on a gentleman; to wait on the table. "Authority and reason on her wait." Milton. "I must wait on myself, must I" Shak. (b) To attend; to go to see; to visit on business or for ceremony. (c) To follow, as a consequence; to await. "That ruin that waits on such a supine temper." Dr. H. More. (d) To look watchfully at; to follow with the eye; to watch. [R.] "It is a point of cunning to wait upon him with whom you speak with your eye." Bacon. (e) To attend to; to perform. "Aaron and his sons . . . shallwait on their priest's office." Num. iii. 10. (f) (Falconry) To fly above its master, waiting till game is sprung; -- said of a hawk. Encyc. Brit.

Wait, v. t.

1. To stay for; to rest or remain stationary in expectation of; to await; as, to wait orders. Awed with these words, in camps they still abide, And wait with longing looks their promised guide. Dryden.

2. To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany; to await. [Obs.]

3. To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect. [Obs.] He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all His warlike troops, to wait the funeral. Dryden. Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee, And everlasting anguish be thy portion. Rowe.

4. To cause to wait; to defer; to postpone; -- said of a meal; as, to wait dinner. [Colloq.]

Wait, n. Etym: [OF. waite, guaite, gaite, F. guet watch, watching, guard, from OHG. wahta. See Wait, v. i.]

1. The act of waiting; a delay; a halt. There is a wait of three hours at the border Mexican town of El Paso. S. B. Griffin.

2. Ambush. "An enemy in wait." Milton.

3. One who watches; a watchman. [Obs.]

4. pl.

Definition: Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians; not used in the singular. [Obs.] Halliwell.

5. pl.

Definition: Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [Written formerly wayghtes.] Hark! are the waits abroad Beau & Fl. The sound of the waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the mild watches of a winter night with the effect of perfect harmony. W. Irving. To lay wait, to prepare an ambuscade.

– To lie in wait. See under 4th Lie.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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