awhile

[ uh-hwahyl, uh-wahyl ]
/ əˈʰwaɪl, əˈwaɪl /

adverb

for a short time or period: Stay awhile.

Origin of awhile

before 1000; Middle English; Old English āne hwīle (dative); see a1, while

usage note for awhile

The adverb awhile is spelled as a single word: After stopping in Hadley awhile, we drove to Deerfield. As the object of a preposition, the noun phrase a while is used, especially in edited writing, but the single-word form is becoming increasingly common: We rested for a while (or awhile ).

Words nearby awhile

Example sentences from the Web for awhile

British Dictionary definitions for awhile

awhile
/ (əˈwaɪl) /

adverb

for a brief period