wait
wait Lexical Profile
wait Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A period of staying in one place or delaying action until an expected event occurs.
"There was a two-hour wait at the clinic before we could see the doctor."
An act of watching in concealment, especially with hostile intent (primarily used in the phrase 'lie in wait').
"The leopard lay in wait behind the tall grass for the herd to approach."
British A member of a historical band of town musicians or public street singers, especially Christmas carolers (usually in plural).
"The town waits performed traditional carols in the market square every December."
• verb
To stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or until something else happens.
"Please wait in the lobby until the receptionist calls your name."
To look forward to or anticipate an upcoming event with eagerness or anxiety.
"The students are waiting impatiently for the summer holidays to begin."
To be postponed, deferred, or left unattended until a later time.
"That paperwork can wait until tomorrow morning when we have more time."
To act as an attendant to someone, or to serve food and drinks at tables in a restaurant.
"She worked her way through college by waiting tables at a busy downtown bistro."
Word Nuance & Usage
Easily confused with its homophone 'weight' (the measure of how heavy something is). In standard syntax, 'wait' requires the preposition 'for' before a direct object (e.g., 'wait for the train'), whereas 'await' takes a direct object directly ('await the train').
• Rhymes for wait
Word Origin & Etymology
Middle English, from Anglo-Norman French waitier ('to watch, lie in wait'), of Germanic origin and related to Old High German wahten ('to watch') and English 'wake'.