wait
Noun · VerbWordNet 3.0
Noun (2)
- time during which some action is awaited“instant replay caused too long a delay”“he ordered a hold in the action”Synonyms: delayholdtime lagpostponement
- the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)“the wait was an ordeal for him”Synonyms: waiting
Verb (4)
- stay in one place and anticipate or expect something“I had to wait on line for an hour to get the tickets”
- wait before acting“the scientists held off announcing their results until they repeated the experiment”Synonyms: hold offhold back
- look forward to the probable occurrence of“We were expecting a visit from our relatives”“She is looking to a promotion”“he is waiting to be drafted”Synonyms: expectlookawait
- serve as a waiter or waitress in a restaurant“I'm waiting on tables at Maxim's”Synonyms: waitress
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
1.To watch; to observe; to take notice. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
"But [unless] ye wait well and be privy, I wot right well, I am but dead," quoth she.— Chaucer.[1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.— Job xiv. 14.[1913 Webster]
They also serve who only stand and wait.— Milton.[1913 Webster]
Haste, my dear father; 't is no time to wait.— Dryden.[1913 Webster] [1913 Webster]
To wait on or To wait 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 . . . shall wait 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. [1913 Webster]
1.To stay for; to rest or remain stationary in expectation of; to await; as, to wait orders. [1913 Webster]
Awed with these words, in camps they still abide, And wait with longing looks their promised guide.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]
2.To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany; to await. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
3.To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all His warlike troops, to wait the funeral.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]
Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee, And everlasting anguish be thy portion.— Rowe.[1913 Webster]
4.To cause to wait; to defer; to postpone; -- said of a meal; as, to wait dinner. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
1.The act of waiting; a delay; a halt. [1913 Webster]
There is a wait of three hours at the border Mexican town of El Paso.— S. B. Griffin.[1913 Webster]
2.Ambush. "An enemy in wait." --Milton. [1913 Webster]
3.One who watches; a watchman. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
4.pl. Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians; not used in the singular. [Obs.] --Halliwell. [1913 Webster]
5.pl. Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [Written formerly wayghtes.] [1913 Webster]
Hark! are the waits abroad?— Beau. & Fl.[1913 Webster]
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.[1913 Webster]
To lay wait, to prepare an ambuscade.
To lie in wait. See under 4th Lie. [1913 Webster]