WAITING
waiting, ready and waiting
(adjective) being and remaining ready and available for use; “waiting cars and limousines lined the curb”; “found her mother waiting for them”; “an impressive array of food ready and waiting for the guests”; “military forces ready and waiting”
wait, waiting
(noun) the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something); “the wait was an ordeal for him”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Verb
waiting
present participle of wait
Noun
waiting (countable and uncountable, plural waitings)
(obsolete) Watching.
The act of staying or remaining in expectation.
Attendance, service.
Source: Wiktionary
Wait"ing,
Definition: a. & n. from Wait, v. In waiting, in attendance; as, lords in
waiting. [Eng.] -- Waiting gentlewoman, a woman who waits upon a
person of rank.
– Waiting maid, Waiting woman, a maid or woman who waits upon
another as a personal servant.
WAIT
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