wait
verbnouninterjectiontop 1 000 in film dialogue
- United States//weɪt//
- United States/[weɪ̯ʔt]/
- //weɪt//
- //wɛjʈ//
To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.
verb
- 1
To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.
Wait here until your car arrives.
I’m still waiting for you to pay me back the money I lent you..
They also serve who only stand and wait.
Haste, my dear father; 'tis no time to wait.
- 2
To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.
She used to wait in this joint.
- 3
archaicTo delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)
to wait one’s turn
Awed with these words, in camps they still abide, / And wait with longing looks their promised guide.
The Court had assembled, to wait events, in the huge antechamber known as the Œil de Boeuf.
- 4
obsoleteTo attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.
He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all / His warlike troops, to wait the funeral.
Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee, / And everlasting anguish be thy portion.
- 5
obsoleteTo attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany.
- 6
obsoleteTo defer or postpone (especially a meal).
Montague Thorold, who impatiently watched her wherever she went, came to tell her that his mother waited breakfast for her.
- 7
obsoleteTo watch with malicious intent; to lie in wait
- 8
To remain faithful to one’s partner or betrothed during a prolonged period of absence.
She did not question him. Before leaving, she asked only, "When will I see you again?" He answered, "I don't know. Don't wait for me, Dagny. Next time we meet, you will not want to see me."
I will wait / Even if it takes forever / I will wait / Even if it takes a lifetime
Etymology
From Middle English waiten, from Anglo-Norman waiter, waitier (compare French guetter from Old French gaitier, guaitier), from Frankish *wahtwēn (“to watch, guard”), derivative of Frankish *wahtu (“guard, watch”), from Proto-Germanic *wahtwō (“guard, watch”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- (“to be fresh, cheerful, awake”). Cognate with Old High German wahtēn (“to watch, guard”), German Low German wachten (“to wait”), Dutch wachten (“to wait, expect”), French guetter (“to watch out for”), Saterland Frisian wachtje (“to wait”), West Frisian wachtsje (“to wait”), North Frisian wachtjen (“to stand, stay put”). More at watch. In some senses, merged or influenced by Middle English waiten, weiten (“to do good to, lie in wait for, to contrive good or harm on, catch, snare”), from Old Norse veita (“to give help to, assist, grant, cause to happen”), from Proto-Germanic *waitijaną (“to show, guide, advise, direct”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, know”). Largely overtook native Middle English biden, from Old English bīdan, source of bide.
noun
- 1
A delay.
I had a very long wait at the airport security check.
- 2
An ambush.
They lay in wait for the patrol.
an enemy in wait
- 3
obsoleteOne who watches; a watchman.
- 4
obsoleteHautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.
[…]as he returned home to his owne house, the waits should sound the hautboies all the way
- 5
Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen.
Hark! are the waits abroad?
1819-1820, Washington Irving, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon 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.
[…] the waits begin their rounds, and going from house to house, […] they sing carols and Christmas hymns until […] another Christmas-day has dawned.[…]
- 6
Variant of wait stateEllipsis of wait state.
interjection
- 1
informalTells the other speaker to stop talking, typing etc. for a moment, often to allow clarification.
- And so I went upstairs— - Wait. Your house has two floors?
Forms
- plural
- waits
- past tense
- waited
- past participle
- waited
- present participle
- waiting
- third person singular
- waits
wait · To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.
Wait · A surname.waiter · A male or female attendant who serves customers at their…Waiters · A surname.