Meaning

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, less common in North America) A line of people, vehicles or other objects, usually one to be dealt with in sequence (i.e., the one at the front end is dealt with first, the one behind is dealt with next, and so on), and which newcomers join at the opposite end (the back)..

Definitions by Sense

1. (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, less common in North America) A line of people, vehicles or other objects, usually one to be dealt with in sequence (i.e., the one at the front end is dealt with first, the one behind is dealt with next, and so on), and which newcomers join at the opposite end (the back).
2. A waiting list or other means of organizing people or objects into a first-come-first-served order.
3. (computing) A data structure in which objects are added to one end, called the tail, and removed from the other, called the head (in the case of a FIFO queue). The term can also refer to a LIFO queue or stack where these ends coincide.
4. (heraldry) An animal's tail.
5. (now historical) A men's hairstyle with a braid or ponytail at the back of the head, such as that worn by men in Imperial China.
6. (intransitive) To put oneself or itself at the end of a waiting line.
7. (intransitive) To arrange themselves into a physical waiting queue.
8. (computing, transitive) To add to a queue data structure.

Example Sentences

I was absent-minded at the moment and was last in the queue.

In a report published on October 31, Transport Focus said that a number of train companies were unable to convince it about their ability to sell a full range of tickets, handle cash payments, and avoid excessive queues at ticket machines.

2005, David Flanagan, Java in a Nutshell, p. 234, Queue implementations are commonly based on insertion order as in first-in, first-out (FIFO) queues or last-in, first-out queues (LIFO queues are also known as stacks).

HESSE: Az., a lion, queue fourchée, rampt., barry of ten, arg. and gu., crowned, or, and holding in his dexter paw a sword, ppr., hilt and pommel, gold.

A large number of loyal officials, rather than shave the front part of the head and wear the Manchu queue, voluntarily shaved the whole head, […]

[…], there were seated astraddle the whole hundred of the baronet's musqueteers, each engaged in plaiting into a queue the hair of the man who sat in front of him.

Caparisoned for a week in purple velvet knee-length pantaloons, a red silk jacket with buckles of shiny brass, and a white goat's-hair wig which culminated behind in a saucy queue, I must have presented an exotic sight […]

Although there is a spacious circulating area beyond the platforms at Clacton, there is severe overcrowding on peak Saturdays; at times of pressure passengers have to queue out into the street [...]

Word Forms

• queues
• queueing
• queuing
• queued

Synonyms for queue

Related Words

When Should You Use Queue?

Use queue when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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