Wait

/weɪt/ · verb

Meaning

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

Definitions by Sense

1. (intransitive) To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.
2. (intransitive, stative, US) To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.
3. (transitive, now rare) To delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)
4. (transitive, obsolete) To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.
5. (obsolete) To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany.
6. (obsolete, colloquial) To defer or postpone (especially a meal).
7. (obsolete, except in phrases) To watch with malicious intent; to lie in wait
8. (intransitive) To remain faithful to one’s partner or betrothed during a prolonged period of absence.

Example Sentences

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.

No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.

The South London tramway replacement will have to wait, possibly five years, because of the slowing down of bus manufacture due to national requirements.

She used to wait in this joint.

to wait one’s turn

Synonyms for wait

Antonyms for wait

Related Words

Word Forms

• waits
• waiting
• waited
• no-table-tags
• glossary
• wait
• waitest
• waitedst
• waiteth
• -
• waight

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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