Definition of 'wait'

Learner: wait Video pronunciation English: wait American: wait Example sentences Idiom list

wait

(weɪt   )
Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense waits   , present participle waiting   , past tense, past participle waited  
1. verb [no passive]
When you wait for something or someone, you spend some time doing very little, because you cannot act until that thing happens or that person arrives.
I walk to a street corner and wait for the school bus. [VERB + for]  
Stop waiting for things to happen. Make them happen. [VERB + for]  
I waited to see how she responded. [VERB to-infinitive]  
Angus got out of the car to wait. [VERB]  
We will have to wait a week or so before we know whether the operation is a success. [VERB noun]  
He told waiting journalists that he did not expect a referendum to be held for several months. [VERB-ing]  
[Also VERB noun + for]
Synonyms: stay, remain, stop, pause   More Synonyms of wait
waiting   uncountable noun
The waiting became almost unbearable.  
2. countable noun [usually singular]
A wait is a period of time in which you do very little, before something happens or before you can do something.
...the four-hour wait for the organizers to declare the result. [+ for]  
Synonyms: delay, gap, pause, interval   More Synonyms of wait
3. verb [usually cont]
If something is waiting for you, it is ready for you to use, have, or do.
There'll be a car waiting for you. [VERB + for]  
When we came home we had a meal waiting for us. [+ for]  
Ships with unfurled sails wait to take them aboard. [VERB to-infinitive]  
Three-hundred railway wagons were waiting to be unloaded. [VERB to-infinitive]  
He had a taxi waiting to take him to the train. [have n V-ing to-inf]  
The President had his plane waiting, 20 minutes' drive away. [have n V-ing]  
[Also VERB]
4. verb [no cont]
If you say that something can wait, you mean that it is not important or urgent and so you will deal with it or do it later.
I want to talk to you, but it can wait. [VERB]  
Any changes will have to wait until sponsors can be found. [VERB]  
Synonyms: be postponed, be suspended, be delayed, be put off   More Synonyms of wait
5. verb
You can use wait when you are trying to make someone feel excited, or to encourage or threaten them.
If you think this all sounds very exciting, just wait until you read the book. [V + until]  
As soon as you get some food inside you, you'll feel more cheerful. Just you wait. [VERB]  
6. verb
Wait is used in expressions such as wait a minute, wait a second, and wait a moment to interrupt someone when they are speaking, for example because you object to what they are saying or because you want them to repeat something.
[spoken]
'Wait a minute!' he broke in. 'This is not giving her a fair hearing!' [VERB noun]  
7. verb
If an employee waits on you, for example in a restaurant or hotel, they take orders from you and bring you what you want.
There were plenty of servants to wait on her. [VERB + on]  
Each student is expected to wait at table for one week each semester. [VERB + at]  
8. 
See can't wait/can hardly wait
9. 
See wait for it
10. 
See wait for it
11. 
See wait and see
12. 
See what are you waiting for
13.  an accident waiting to happen
14.  ready and waiting
Phrasal verbs:
See wait around
See wait in
See wait on
See wait up
More Synonyms of wait
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

Video: pronunciation of
wait

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wait in British English

(weɪt   )
verb
1. (when intr, often foll by for, until, or to)
to stay in one place or remain inactive in expectation (of something); hold oneself in readiness (for something)
2. 
to delay temporarily or be temporarily delayed
that work can wait
3. (when intr, usually foll by for)
(of things) to be in store (for a person)
success waits for you in your new job
4. (intransitive)
to act as a waiter or waitress
noun
5. 
the act or an instance of waiting
6. 
a period of waiting
7. (plural) rare
a band of musicians who go around the streets, esp at Christmas, singing and playing carols
8. 
an interlude or interval between two acts or scenes in a play, etc
9.  See lie in wait
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C12: from Old French waitier; related to Old High German wahtēn to wake1

wait in American English

(weɪt   )
verb intransitive
1. 
to stay in a place or remain in readiness or in anticipation (until something expected happens or for someone to arrive or catch up)
2. 
to be ready or at hand
dinner was waiting for them
3. 
to remain temporarily undone or neglected
let that job wait
4. 
to serve food at a meal
with at or on
to wait at table, to wait on a person
verb transitive
5. 
to be, remain, or delay in expectation or anticipation of; await
to wait orders, to wait one's turn
6.  Informal
to delay serving (a meal) as in waiting for someone
to wait dinner
7.  Obsolete
to attend upon or escort, esp. as a token of respect or honor
8.  Obsolete
to attend as a consequence
noun
9. 
the act or fact of waiting
10. 
a period of waiting
a four-hour wait
11. 
in England,
a. 
any of a group of singers and musicians who go through the streets at Christmastime performing songs and carols for small gifts of money
b. 
any tune so performed
12.  Obsolete
a member of a band of musicians formerly employed by a city or town in England to play at entertainments
13.  Obsolete
a watchman
SIMILAR WORDS:  stay
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME waiten < NormFr waitier < Frank *wahten, to guard, akin to OHG wahta, a guard, watch: for IE base see wake1

Examples of 'wait' in a sentence
wait

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…
An initial post mortem was inconclusive and officials are now waiting on toxicology results.
The Sun (2017)
There are various reasons to play the waiting game at present.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
She would sit and wait in the car doing her work.
The Sun (2016)
They wait for one moment and they got that moment.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
And wait till you see those moody sunsets.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
This situation risks overload and longer waiting times for all patients.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Some may think we still need to wait to take full advantage of this model.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
 Instead of waiting, you take action in all areas of your life.
The Sun (2016)
There was no four-hour wait.
The Sun (2017)
We have just waited for the result to happen and this is not a good way.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
They did the right thing rather than us having to lie in wait for them.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
They would wait until the play had passed or until they were waved across by the golfers.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
We step out of our car and wait at the booth as our passports are slowly checked.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
This is the one you have waited for.
The Sun (2011)
You could see he was a person waiting for something big.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
We will just have to wait and see.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The hall is a place to wait.
The Times Literary Supplement (2013)
The only people around were friends of his waiting outside to take them home.
The Sun (2014)
Waiting times for all kinds of health needs are going up.
The Sun (2016)
The hotel is still waiting for its booze licence.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Wait a few minutes before eating as the marshmallows will be hot.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The whole place was waiting for something to happen.
Moynihan, John Kevin Keegan - Black and White (1993)
We are just waiting for the results to accompany this.
The Sun (2012)
She just lied and lay in wait.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The police sealed off the area and played a waiting game.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The men waited in the car or did not come at all.
Charles Glass The Tribes Triumphant (2006)
How are you supposed to fill up the time waiting in one of these grim places?
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
 Exactly what kind of person lay in wait?
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Wait until you see them there in one piece and then bet.
The Sun (2009)
This is not the first time that a suspect has had to suffer a prolonged period of waiting.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
This time it was a four-hour wait.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
 Linked periods The three waiting days do not always apply.
Torrington, Derek Personnel Management: A New Approach (1991)
There is something about the expectation, the waiting.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)

Quotations

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched
Don't cross the bridge till you come to it

More idioms containing
wait

wait in the wings

In other languages

British English: wait   /weɪt/ VERB
for someone or something When you wait for something or someone, you spend some time doing very little, before something happens.
I walked to the street corner and waited for the school bus.
  • American English: wait   /ˈweɪt/
  • Arabic: يَنْتَظِرُ  
  • Brazilian Portuguese: esperar  
  • Chinese: 等待  
  • Croatian: čekati  
  • Czech: čekat  
  • Danish: vente  
  • Dutch: wachten  
  • European Spanish: esperar   espera
  • Finnish: odottaa  
  • French: attendre  
  • German: warten  
  • Greek: περιμένω  
  • Italian: aspettare  
  • Japanese: 待つ  
  • Korean: 기다리다  
  • Norwegian: vente  
  • Polish: poczekać  
  • European Portuguese: esperar  
  • Romanian: a aștepta
  • Russian: ждать  
  • Latin American Spanish: esperar  
  • Swedish: vänta  
  • Thai: รอ  
  • Turkish: beklemek  
  • Ukrainian: чекати
  • Vietnamese: chờ đợi  
British English: wait   /ˈweɪt/ VERB
be delayed If you say that something can wait, you mean that it is not important, so you will do it later.
I want to talk to you, but it can wait.
  • American English: wait for   /ˈweɪt fɔr/
  • Arabic: يَنْتَظِرُ  
  • Brazilian Portuguese: aguardar  
  • Chinese: 等待  
  • Croatian: pričekati  
  • Czech: počkat  
  • Danish: vente på  
  • Dutch: wachten op  
  • European Spanish: esperar   alguien
  • Finnish: odottaa jotakin  
  • French: attendre  
  • German: warten auf  
  • Greek: περιμένω για  
  • Italian: aspettare  
  • Japanese: 待つ  
  • Korean: ...을 기다리다  
  • Norwegian: vente på  
  • Polish: poczekać na  
  • European Portuguese: aguardar  
  • Romanian: a amâna
  • Russian: ожидать  
  • Latin American Spanish: esperar  
  • Swedish: vänta på  
  • Thai: รอได้  
  • Turkish: beklemek  
  • Ukrainian: зачекати
  • Vietnamese: chờ đợi  

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Related terms of
wait

Source

Definition of wait from the Collins English Dictionary
Word of the day
plenilunar
relating to a full moon
Scrabble score
for 'wait':
7
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