wait¹ /wāt/

1. To be or remain in expectation or readiness (with for)
2. To be or remain in a place in readiness (also wait about or around)
3. To delay action
4. To be delayed
5. To remain temporarily undealt with
6. To be in attendance, or in readiness to carry out orders
7. To bring food to the table and clear away used dishes
8. To keep watch, be on guard (Spenser waite; obsolete)
9. To be on the watch for someone, lie in ambush (obsolete)

1. To postpone (eg a meal) for some purpose (informal)
2. To watch, watch for, or lie in ambush for (obsolete)
3. To be or remain in expectation of, await (obsolete)
4. To attend on, attend or escort (obsolete)

1. The act or a period of waiting or of expecting
2. A delay
3. Ambush (as in lie in wait)
4. The period of attendance of a lord- or lady-in-waiting
5. (in pl) musicians employed by a town to play on ceremonial occasions (historical)
6. (in pl) people who welcome in Christmas by playing or singing out of doors at night
7. A member of a Christmas band or town band of waits
8. A watchman, sentinel or spy (obsolete)

waitˈer noun

1. Someone who waits
2. A man whose job is to wait, esp at table in a hotel or restaurant, etc
3. An attending servant (obsolete)
4. A salver or tray
5. A dumb waiter
6. Formerly, a uniformed attendant at the London Stock Exchange
7. A watchman (obsolete)
8. A customs officer (obsolete)

waitˈerage noun (rare)

Service

waitˈerhood noun (rare)

Or waitˈering the occupation of a waiter

waitˈing noun

1. The act or process of remaining in expectation, delaying, etc
2. Attendance, service, eg in a restaurant

Relating to, or suitable for waiting

waitˈingly adverb (rare)

waitˈress noun

A woman whose job is to wait at tables in a hotel or restaurant, etc

waitˈress intransitive verb

To work as a waitress

waitˈressing noun

The occupation of a waitress

waitˈ-a-bit noun (also often adjective)

A name given to various plants, esp S African (Afrikaans wag-'n-bietjie /vuhhˈə(n)-bē-kē/), with thorns that catch the clothing of passers-by

waitˈ-a-while noun

1. A wait-a-bit
2. An Australian wattle growing in dense thickets

waiting list or wait list noun

A list of people waiting, eg candidates awaiting a vacancy, etc

waitˈing-maid or waitˈing-woman noun (archaic)

A female attendant

waiting room noun

A room for the use of people waiting

waitˈing-vassal noun (obsolete)

An attendant

wait list see waiting list above.

waitˈ-list transitive verb

To add the name of (a person) to a waiting list, esp for a seat on an aircraft

wait-on see wait on below.

waitˈperson noun (US)

A waiter or waitress

wait state noun (computing)

The period of time that a microprocessor must wait while fetching data from a slower memory

lay wait (archaic)

To lie in wait

lie in wait

To be in hiding ready to attack or surprise (lit and figurative)

lords in waiting

Certain officers in the Lord Chamberlain's department of the royal household

minority waiter (Sheridan)

Meaning uncertain (perh a waiter, or a tidewaiter, out of employment)

play a waiting game

To avoid action as far as possible in the hope of having an opportunity later to use one's energies with maximum effect

wait attendance (Shakespeare)

To remain in attendance

wait for it! (informal)

An expression injected into a narrative to prepare listeners for something impressive

wait off (racing)

To allow oneself to be temporarily outdistanced by other competitors, reserving one's energies for the final stretch

wait on

1. To wait for (informal)
2. To continue to wait (Scot)
3. To be patient or wait (Aust and NZ)
4. See wait upon below
5. (of a hawk) to circle or hover in the air above the falconer's head (falconry; waitˈ-on noun)

wait table

To wait at table during a meal

• sterilisers
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