wait Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun time during which some action is awaited
    delay; hold; postponement; time lag.
    • instant replay caused too long a delay
    • he ordered a hold in the action
  2. noun the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something)
    waiting.
    • the wait was an ordeal for him
  3. verb stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
    • I had to wait on line for an hour to get the tickets
  4. verb wait before acting
    hold off; hold back.
    • the scientists held off announcing their results until they repeated the experiment
  5. verb look forward to the probable occurrence of
    await; expect; look.
    • We were expecting a visit from our relatives
    • She is looking to a promotion
    • he is waiting to be drafted
  6. verb serve as a waiter or waitress in a restaurant
    waitress.
    • I'm waiting on tables at Maxim's

WordNet

Wait intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. waiten, OF. waitier, gaitier, to watch, attend, F. guetter to watch, to wait for, fr. OHG. wahta a guard, watch, G. wacht, from OHG. wahhen to watch, be awake. *134. See Wake, v. i.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Waited; present participle & verbal noun Waiting
Definitions
  1. To watch; to observe; to take notice. Obs.
    "But [unless] ye wait well and be privy, I wot right well, I am but dead," quoth she. Chaucer.
  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.
    All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Job xiv. 14.
    They also serve who only stand and wait. Milton.
    Haste, my dear father; 't is no time to wait. Dryden.
Wait transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To stay for; to rest or remain stationary in expectation of; to await; as, to wait orders.
    Awed with these words, in camps they still abide, And wait with longing looks their promised guide. Dryden.
  2. To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany; to await. Obs.
  3. To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect. Obs.
    He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all His warlike troops, to wait the funeral. Dryden.
    Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee, And everlasting anguish be thy portion. Rowe.
  4. To cause to wait; to defer; to postpone; -- said of a meal; as, to wait dinner. Colloq.
Wait noun
Etymology
OF. waite, guaite, gaite, F. guet watch, watching, guard, from OHG. wahta. See Wait, v. i.
Definitions
  1. The act of waiting; a delay; a halt.
    There is a wait of three hours at the border Mexican town of El Paso. S. B. Griffin.
  2. Ambush. "An enemy in wait." Milton.
  3. One who watches; a watchman. Obs.
  4. pl. Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians; not used in the singular. Obs. Halliwell.
  5. pl. Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. Written formerly wayghtes.
    Hark! are the waits abroad? Beau & Fl.
    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.

Webster 1913