'Wait' definitions:

Definition of 'wait'

From: WordNet
noun
Time during which some action is awaited; "instant replay caused too long a delay"; "he ordered a hold in the action" [syn: delay, hold, time lag, postponement, wait]
noun
The act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something); "the wait was an ordeal for him" [syn: wait, waiting]
verb
Stay in one place and anticipate or expect something; "I had to wait on line for an hour to get the tickets"
verb
Wait before acting; "the scientists held off announcing their results until they repeated the experiment" [syn: wait, hold off, hold back]
verb
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" [syn: expect, look, await, wait]
verb
Serve as a waiter or waitress in a restaurant; "I'm waiting on tables at Maxim's" [syn: wait, waitress]

Definition of 'Wait'

From: GCIDE
  • Wait \Wait\, v. t.
  • 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]

Definition of 'Wait'

From: GCIDE
  • Wait \Wait\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Waited; p. pr. & vb. n. Waiting.] [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. wahh[=e]n to watch, be awake. [root]134. See Wake, v. i.] [1913 Webster]
  • 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]

Definition of 'Wait'

From: GCIDE
  • Wait \Wait\, n. [OF. waite, guaite, gaite, F. guet watch, watching, guard, from OHG. wahta. See Wait, v. i.] [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]

Synonyms of 'wait'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Wait'