- wait
- [[t]we͟ɪt[/t]]
♦waits, waiting, waited1) VERB: no passive When you wait for something or someone, you spend some time doing very little, because you cannot act until that thing happens or that person arrives.
[V for n] I walk to a street corner and wait for the school bus...
[V for n to-inf] Stop waiting for things to happen. Make them happen...
[V to-inf] I waited to see how she responded...
Angus got out of the car to wait...
[V n] We will have to wait a week or so before we know whether the operation is a success...
[V-ing] He told waiting journalists that he did not expect a referendum to be held for several months. [Also V n for n]
Derived words:waiting N-UNCOUNTThe waiting became almost unbearable.
2) N-COUNT: usu sing A wait is a period of time in which you do very little, before something happens or before you can do something....the four-hour wait for the organizers to declare the result.
3) VERB: usu cont If something is waiting for you, it is ready for you to use, have, or do.[V for n] There'll be a car waiting for you...
[have n V-ing for n] When we came home we had a meal waiting for us...
[V to-inf] Ships with unfurled sails wait to take them aboard...
[V to-inf] Three-hundred railway wagons were waiting to be unloaded...
[have n V-ing to-inf] He had a taxi waiting to take him to the train...
[have n V-ing] The President had his plane waiting, 20 minutes' drive away. [Also V]
4) VERB: no cont If you say that something can wait, you mean that it is not important or urgent and so you will deal with it or do it later.I want to talk to you, but it can wait...
Any changes will have to wait until sponsors can be found.
5) VERB: only imper You can use wait when you are trying to make someone feel excited, or to encourage or threaten them.[V until cl/n] If you think this all sounds very exciting, just wait until you read the book...
As soon as you get some food inside you, you'll feel more cheerful. Just you wait.
6) VERB: only imper Wait is used in expressions such as wait a minute, wait a second, and wait a moment to interrupt someone when they are speaking, for example because you object to what they are saying or because you want them to repeat something. [SPOKEN][V n] `Wait a minute!' he broke in. `This is not giving her a fair hearing!'
Syn:hold on, hang on7) VERB If an employee waits on you, for example in a restaurant or hotel, they take orders from you and bring you what you want.[V on n] There were plenty of servants to wait on her...
[V at n] Each student is expected to wait at table for one week each semester.
8) PHRASE: oft PHR to-inf (emphasis) If you say that you can't wait to do something or can hardly wait to do it, you are emphasizing that you are very excited about it and eager to do it. [SPOKEN]We can't wait to get started...
It's gonna be great. I can hardly wait...
I could hardly wait to get out of there.
9) CONVENTION You say `wait for it' to stop someone from doing something too soon because you have not yet given them the command to do it. [BRIT]Arms bend. Arms upward. Wait for it. Stretch.
10) PHRASE: PHR with group You can use `wait for it' to indicate that you are about to say something that is amusing or surprising. [BRIT, INFORMAL]A cool $500,000 is to be spent on obtaining genuine 17th-century air from the inside of, wait for it, an occupied lead coffin.
11) PHRASE: oft PHR n, PHR wh If you tell someone to wait and see, you tell them that they must be patient or that they must not worry about what is going to happen in the future because they have no control over it.We'll have to wait and see what happens.
...a wait-and-see attitude.
12) PHRASE If you say to someone `What are you waiting for?' you are telling them to hurry up and do something. [SPOKEN]Well, what are you waiting for? Do I have to ask you for a kiss?
Phrasal Verbs:- wait in- wait on- wait up
English dictionary. 2008.
