Definition of "wait"

wait

/weɪt/

verb
third-person singular simple present waits, present participle waiting, simple past and past participle waited
1. (transitive, now rare) To delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)
  Quotations
  Awed with these words, in camps they still abide, / And wait with longing looks their promised guide.
  1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […]
  The Court had assembled, to wait events, in the huge antechamber known as the Œil de Boeuf.
  1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, page 30
2. (intransitive) To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.
  Quotations
  They also serve who only stand and wait.
  1673, John Milton, “[Sonnet] XVI. When I Consider How My Light is Spent.”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], page 59
  Haste, my dear father; 'tis no time to wait.
  1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […]
  No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.
  1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., page 46
  The South London tramway replacement will have to wait, possibly five years, because of the slowing down of bus manufacture due to national requirements.
  1948 March and April, “Notes and News: London Transport Plans”, in Railway Magazine, page 132
3. (intransitive, stative, US) To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.
4. (transitive, obsolete) To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.
  Quotations
  He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all / His warlike troops, to wait the funeral.
  1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […]
  Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee, / And everlasting anguish be thy portion.
  1714, Nicholas Rowe, The Tragedy of Jane Shore
5. (obsolete) To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany.
6. (obsolete, colloquial) To defer or postpone (especially a meal).
  Quotations
  Montague Thorold, who impatiently watched her wherever she went, came to tell her that his mother waited breakfast for her.
  1791, Charlotte Smith, Celestina, Broadview, published 2004, page 185
7. (obsolete, except in phrases) To watch with malicious intent; to lie in wait
8. (intransitive) To remain faithful to one’s partner or betrothed during a prolonged period of absence.
  Quotations
  She did not question him. Before leaving, she asked only, "When will I see you again?" He answered, "I don't know. Don't wait for me, Dagny. Next time we meet, you will not want to see me."
  1957, Dagny Taggart, Francisco d'Anconia, Ayn Rand's, Atlas Shrugged
  I will wait / Even if it takes forever / I will wait / Even if it takes a lifetime
  1974, The Bee Gees, Night Fever
noun
plural waits
1. A delay.
2. An ambush.
  Quotations
  an enemy in wait
  1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
3. (computing) Short for wait state.
4. (obsolete) One who watches; a watchman.
5. (in the plural, obsolete, UK) Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.
  Quotations
  […] as he returned home to his owne house, the waits should sound the hautboies all the way
  1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book XVII]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […]
6. (in the plural, UK) Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [formerly waites, wayghtes.]
  Quotations
  Hark! are the waits abroad?
  1609–1612, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Captaine”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, Act II, scene ii
  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.
  1819-1820, Washington Irving, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon
interjection
1. (informal) Tells the other speaker to stop talking, typing etc. for a moment.

Definition of "wait"

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interjection