Idioms for wait

    lie in wait, to wait in ambush: The army lay in wait in the forest.
    wait table. table(def 26).

Origin of wait

1150–1200; (v.) early Middle English waiten < Anglo-French waitier; Old French guaitier < Germanic; cognate with Old High German wahtēn to watch, derivative of wahta a watch (see wake1); (noun) late Middle English < AF derivative of waitier

SYNONYMS FOR wait

1 await, linger, abide, delay. Wait, tarry imply pausing to linger and thereby putting off further activity until later. Wait usually implies staying for a limited time and for a definite purpose, that is, for something expected: to wait for a train. Tarry is a somewhat archaic word for wait, but it suggests lingering, perhaps aimlessly delaying, or pausing (briefly) in a journey: to tarry on the way home; to tarry overnight at an inn.

usage note for wait

15e, f. Sometimes considered objectionable in standard usage, the idiom wait on meaning “to wait for, to await (a person)” is largely confined to speech or written representations of speech. It is most common in the Midland and Southern United States: Let's not wait on Rachel, she's always late. Wait on or upon (an event) does not have a regional pattern and occurs in a wide variety of contexts: We will wait on (or upon ) his answer and make our decision then. The completion of the merger waits upon news of a drop in interest rates.

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH wait

wait weight

Example sentences from the Web for wait

British Dictionary definitions for wait

wait
/ (weɪt) /

verb

noun

See also wait on, wait up

Word Origin for wait

C12: from Old French waitier; related to Old High German wahtēn to wake 1

Idioms and Phrases with wait

wait